It's Not Me, It's You

by Jon Richardson

Wanting things my own way is not something I like about myself.

I have spent my entire adult life getting things the way I want them and all I want now is someone to give it all up for.

I know that no one is happy all the time, but I have learned that unhappiness can be an awful lot easier to deal with if you know you are responsible for it, and therefore responsible for changing it.

The perfect day is not a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, it is something that can happen every day if you’re willing to put in the effort.

If you are willing to take personal responsibility for each failure, however small, then you can strive to eliminate errors altogether.

Not sure I completely agree but I love Jon's logic

There is so much for each of us to get done and so little time to do it in that we can’t possibly do it without help, so we should make space for one another, clear a path to allow those of us through who need a helping hand.

We invented happiness when finding food became too easy and survival became the norm.

It is a source of confusion to me that as a child, say, in your first fifteen years, you learn more than you will ever learn in the same time period for the rest of your life. You learn how to walk and to talk, you learn about illness, death and about not getting your own way. You learn that life is sometimes unfair and that, for no reason at all, bad things happen to good people. You learn that there will come a time when all help ceases and you will be in sole charge of your own happiness and responsible for your own actions. You learn about money and what it is to be without it and you learn (if you are lucky) to ask questions about religion and what might exist beyond the world we know.

If I don’t check the news I can convince myself for a few brief moments that everything outside has disappeared and I am the last survivor on earth.

It is so much easier to grieve for the dead than to care for the living. At least in death we are all perfect.

When the foundations of your house are rotten, you do not paint your living room.

Drugs and extreme hobbies might help take you away from that natural state from time to time and this can be a very good thing, provided you are not running away from confronting life in its normal form. The things you feel when you are sober and alone cannot be outrun.

Wear your brightest traits on your sleeve, for all to see, and do your tailoring at home. But don’t forget to seek some happiness for yourself too.