Friday, September 16, 2005

I can’t get no satisfaction

Look around you. Chances are you will see successful people. Making good money. Studying in a good university. Chances also are that most of them whine. Something don't fit, right?

I was discussing a web article with a friend recently. It said that for most people, happiness was a function of how you were doing with respect to the people around you. Most people make endless comparisons with their peers – he is making more than me, she is cuter than me. Given that one tends to hang out with people in a similar social stratum, one inevitably manages to find at least one thing to whine about. And that, more often that not, is more than enough.

In a weird way, I like it like this. All of us definitely feel this unique sensation of guilt – what if my parents had not had the money to educate me. What if I was born someone else – less smart, fatter? How much of what I have is just plain luck.

It is strangely gratifying to imagine that at the end of the day – we are all more or less equally depressed. : )

Afterthought: I guess I am generalising. There definitely are a chosen few who are literally at peace with themselves. I think in my 22 years of existence, I have met 4 of them.

For the rest of us, a surefire way to stay happy would be to make loser friends. : )

This is not meant to be a serious post. Please to not be flaming.

11 Comments:

Blogger Golu said...

duh who are the other 3 ppl

11:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

~he is making more than me, she is cuter than me

:) ah! we believe in stereotypes, don't we?

-amrita

1:00 PM  
Blogger Aswin said...

am i one of the 'fantastic four' ?

huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ? huh ?

:P

2:08 PM  
Blogger Karthik said...

Amrita,

:) Guilty as charged

K

3:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bloody hypocrite duh...
You had to reply to only that comment!

This is not a serious comment. Please to not be flaming ;)

7:27 PM  
Blogger Karthik said...

What else am i supposed to say :)

Oh Golu, Aswin - you guys are so at peace with yourselves :)

K

9:36 AM  
Blogger Sheraton said...

In some sense we are a memoryless system - its mostly not where we are that matters - its how much we have fallen short of that does :)

Try living your ideal day ( whatever it mite be ) - say - good books, good movies, in a boat, on a river through the valleys with a dog/boyfriend/girlfriend or whatever - and tell me how sustainable it is :)

Guess we are made to appreciate potential differences not absolutes ;-)

2:34 PM  
Blogger Aswin said...

i am ? really ? :)

glad you think so, at least :)

6:40 PM  
Blogger Karthik said...

A friend of mine was rather amused that a post about "happiness being about how one was doing with respect to one's peers" was followed by 2 comments of "Am I one of the 4"

Validatin, don't you think :D

6:42 PM  
Blogger Karthik said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

6:42 PM  
Blogger Karthik said...

A friend of mine was rather amused that a post about "happiness being about how one was doing with respect to one's peers" was followed by 2 comments of "Am I one of the 4"

Validation, don't you think :D

6:43 PM  

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