Heaven Knows Im Miserable Now

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
But heaven knows I'm miserable now

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now

In my life
Why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die ?

Two lovers entwined pass me by
And heaven knows I'm miserable now

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now

In my life
Oh, why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die ?

What she asked of me at the end of the day
Caligula would have blushed

"You've been in the house too long" she said
And I (naturally) fled

In my life
Why do I smile
At people who I'd much rather kick in the eye ?

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
But heaven knows I'm miserable now

"You've been in the house too long" she said
And I (naturally) fled

In my life
Why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die ?


Hands up if you've ever felt like this song. There's definitely something very modern about the sense of alienation, the impossibility and fleetingness of happiness and the sense of disconnect with others. In the 21st Century it seems like these are pressing issues. In fact these are eternal issues. Concepts that man has struggled with forever.

To whom or what should we devote our time?
How do drugs and alcohol link to happiness? And to perception? Is it just escapism?
To quote Noel gallagher, "Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job, when there's nothing worth working for?"
Can having new things make you happy? Is money the root to happiness?

It's a lyric about meaning, purpose and happiness.

A few comments:

- Stuff in itself cannot make you happy.

- Acquiring things can but only if they fit within your plan for life and your principles. If you hate the idea of using children's blood to die your socks then working at Primark will not make you happy....unless you value the money more in your current life situation.

- Acquiring new things that sit happily with your values and your future plans will make you happy. Growth is important for a person to feel good. Are you growing?

- Money doesnt make you happy. Acquiring more money might. So long as it isn't at any price. Investing in evil dictatorships (Zimbabwe?) make most people squirm. It certainly isn't the root to all evil though. It's just a thing.

- Happiness is an emotion. If something doesn't affect you emotionally it will not lead to happiness. This is probably the most important point in this essay.

- What's your purpose? What do you want from life? Do you have a vision? Do you have that one thing that inspires you... That gets you truly excited for when you think about the future. If you have then you've found your calling and you're a lucky person. If not...what's stopping you?

What kind of person do you want in your life? You can't have choice until you know what it is you want to choose. Once you know what you're looking for you're far more likely to find it. Our brains have something called a Reticular Activation System (RAS) which tunes in to things of value.

Examples of the RAS at work positively:

1) When we buy a new car we start seeing similar ones everywhere.
2) Why certain articles stick out from the dozens we skim in the newspaper.
3) Why heads snap in the bar as a hot piece of ass walks by.

Conversely when things don't have value we blank them out. Examples of the RAS working negatively:

1) Our minds wonder to more pressing issues when we're sat in a boring lesson/meeting.
2) It is difficult to hear background noise/someone shouting when we're concentrating on something intensely.
3) We can't see our noses despite the fact we should be able to!

Each of us is born with our own little value radar.

Our senses can scan thousands of pieces of information but only consciously process 7+/- 2 pieces. Our RAS decides which pieces we are consciously processing. If you remind yourself regularly what you want out of life then it will increase those things' value. Your RAS will then effortlessly hunt out these things for you.

This is what is actually going on when people talk about The Law of Attraction.

Having more of what you want is happiness. Find out what you want, get what you want, find out what else you want. Wash, rinse, repeat. This is one small, important part of happiness.

Have a think about what you value. What do you REALLY value? How can you get more of it? What affects your emotions positively? What are your values? Welcome to the start of happinesss...

Thanks for reading. Coming up this week, as promised: A history of my studies/career