Humor

How To Be Happy By Having No Expectations

None. Zero. Ever.

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

I have decided that unhappiness is the result of having expectations. If you expect something to happen, and then it doesn’t happen, what happens?

You’re unhappy. You were really counting on [insert thing here] happening, but it didn’t, and now what? That thing you were counting on didn’t happen and now you don’t have whatever was going to be the end result of that thing happening, and you are severely disappointed.

Every time I enter a writing contest or even buy a lottery ticket, my mind races off like a puppy at the beach and invents a bunch of wild happiness scenarios that *spoiler alert* are not going to happen.

I can pay off my house!

I can quit my job!!

I will never have to worry about money ever again!!!

And then when I lose the contest, or I lose the lottery, or it rains on the day of my big outing to the zoo (“I just wanted to pet the giraffe. Are the handcuffs really necessary?”), then my spirit is crushed like an Amazon packaging pillow (yes, this is what I call them) being stabbed with a knife.

The answer, of course, is to have no expectations. Ever. About anything.