The sages tell us to get present and find joy right here and now. There is nothing more we need. We can be happy now without achieving our acquiring anything. Striving, they say, leads to misery.
People have long misinterpreted the sages. They think that the sages mean we should stop wanting, be small, do without–that we should deny ourselves and feel guilty about what we might want. “To want is bad,” they might say.
Nope. That’s not what the sages mean.
Yes, striving doesn’t work. And yes, we can raise our buzz and choose happiness right now, despite circumstance. Once we are there, we can joyfully choose to achieve or acquire anything we desire. From joy, want is good.
In your corner,
Mike
PS: We can always tell whether a want is bad or good by how it feels. Good wants feel warm and exiting. Striving, guilt, and denial feel bad.
PPS: And from joy, our want benefits others, too. (In case you were feeling guilty about that.) You can prove this to yourself easily.