Desire What You Have — by Dan Lynn

By Dan Lynn

I spent a lot of time studying how the mind works by reading a lot of books on the topic. One of the things I learned is that most people live in a permanent state of wanting — the next deal, the bigger house, the thing just out of reach. There's nothing wrong with ambition. But if your happiness is always attached to what you don't have yet, look at the logic: you can never arrive. The moment you get the thing, the wanting just jumps to the next thing. By definition, you'll never be happy. I think social media has amplified this. You see everyone posting about what they have, their successes, and the great things they are doing. It's easy to want more and more and more.

The fix isn't to stop wanting. It's to also desire what you already have — your work, your health, the people around you. To actually see it instead of looking past it.

This is ancient wisdom. Buddhism names craving as the very root of suffering — its Second Noble Truth. The Stoics said much the same: as Epictetus put it, "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

It's great to dream. It's great to be ambitious and driven. But, I learned that happiness isn't getting everything you want. It's wanting what you already have.