Happiness is in the future.
Progress has been so slow ever since most of my toons hit the LvL 100+ mark; and every day felt like a struggle for 1%... even with exp runes and passes. Not to mention the astronomical figure needed for each gear upgrade, especially for my LvL 103 guy...Another update was coming and I was feeling quite bored...So, I decided to try out a new character, a character that I've been toying with the idea for quite sometime now.
I made a new LvL 1 guy and started following the quest chains and doing some grinding if needed. It was quite refreshing and Lineage2 felt like fun again. Also, I got to meet some interesting people along the way. A guy from Canary island and some other dude from Turkey, then a guy from Argentina...oh my...! they were literally from all over world and I enjoyed chatting with them for a bit. Most of all, however, what I realized along the way the most was how happy I was feeling when I was thinking about my plans for the new character, what gears to have and what leveling routes I would take..etc. It was like...as long as I was dreaming for the future of my new guy, I was feeling happy...then it suddenly occurred to me.
Happiness is a state of mind and it exists in the future, not in the present.
It is possible to have instant gratifications of our animal wants and needs in the present moment but the true happiness can only be found in our dreams for the future.
Let's say, somebody wants to spank your A-SS 100 times and pay you $100,000 USD per spanking! I mean literally spank your A-SS for $100,000 USD per hit and also 100 times! Basically, by the time you get your A-SS spanked 100 times, you make 100 x $100,000 USD = 10 Million USD.
If this is true, how would you feel about the spanking? Will you dread and fear? NO! You will actually be happy with the anticipation of your A-SS getting spanked! and as you are getting spanked, you will be counting your money with a BIG Smile On your Face!
On the other hand, somebody wants to give you 1 Billion USD! That's 1,000 x 1 Million Dollars! A way~too much money~ for anyone's life time! But...the catch is...you die Tomorrow... So, you got 1 Billion dollar today but tomorrow you die. If this is true, will you be happy now? you have 100 times more money than 10 Million today but why are you not happy? That's cuz tomorrow everything will end.
Our mind is future oriented when it comes to Happiness.
Most people go to work or school, from Monday to Friday. What's interesting is, of all the mornings of the week, people feel the happiest on the Friday morning. Just 1 more day of work then it's the Friday night followed by the entire Weekend! So even though they have the full day of work ahead, they feel the happiest. Whereas, on Sunday Morning, they don't feel quite happy. It's cuz the next day is Monday....so even though they have the full day of Free Time, they are not quite as happy and relaxed as they should be; and when Monday morning comes...LOL, you should see the people's face on the commuter trains or buses...everybody looks so miserable! LOL The statistics also shows that about 40% of the people having a heart attack, they have it on Monday mornings! It's like the prospect of going to work is so shocking to most people's heart that their own heart attacks them! LOL
Anyways people, I hope you all find your dreams and be happy.