Don’t Look For Stories With A Happy Ending: Just Be Happy
Children’s literature is full of stories with a happy ending. As if by magic, all endings are satisfying and ideal. Well, this is the opposite of what happens so many times in reality. It seems that no couple enjoys eternal happiness. Far from being solved, the problems multiply. The bad guys, no matter how unfair they may seem, usually win the game.
However, the stories of Charles Perrault and Hans Christian Andersen were not as harmless as Walt Disney led us to believe. The princesses of the original stories did not always get married and were not always happy.
Both adults and children need hope and enthusiasm to live. Many times, we have to believe that everything will go well for the result to be favorable. There is no doubt that positive thinking involves a better attitude to deal with adversity.
However, it is not about inventing an event or falling into the temptation to idealize, for example, emotional relationships. In this article, we invite you to reflect on this issue.
Are all stories with a happy ending?
You probably have a memory of an event that did not have a particularly pleasant or idyllic ending. Despite this, you can consider that the experience was worth the trouble.
Maybe you’re thinking about that relationship that made you suffer so much in adolescence. But at the same time, you have learned a lot… This is just one of the possible examples. So, although things did not go the way you would have liked, these are experiences that are part of your own identity and history.
Therefore, the “best stories” do not always have to be the ones with a happy ending. We learn from any story, especially those that represent significant challenges.
Be happy without so much story
Tal Ben-Shahar is a psychologist, Harvard professor, and successful writer of many books that teach us how to be happy.
- Books like The Pursuit of Happiness highlight how people look for answers to their own existential goals. In this sense, the contributions of Positive Psychology are revealing.
- Dr. Ben-Shahar insists that life is different from those stories with a happy ending. In fact, it encourages its readers to get rid of the false aspiration for permanent joy.
- Far from high expectations or the desire for perfection, appreciating what we currently have is a healthier alternative.
- For example, a common mistake is to condition any satisfaction on the achievement of certain goals.
- Although dreaming and goal setting are necessary to progress, the right measure must be set. How? Well, being careful and looking for balance.
Stories or high expectations, fantasies and false ideals are prisons for personal development. Therefore, when someone does not achieve what he set out to do, he becomes the shadow of unhappiness. But what if we settle for a little less?
The best time is the present
Another mistake we make is to focus only on the future. That is, to believe that only when we get one thing can we do the other. Or that when we find the right person, we will feel fulfilled. We even come to believe that when we finally have a vacation, we will be happy and calm.
- With this type of reasoning, the only thing we can do is postpone our own emotional well-being. It may be healthier to delay tasks, activities and appointments and start having fun earlier.
- This is the best opportunity now. Why cling to the idea that we will be fine only when certain things happen?
- What happens if we value our loved ones who show that they love us?
What stories with a happy ending will you write?
Being happy is something very different from that magical perfection that children’s stories tell us. Despite the fact that they promote the imagination of children, as adults, we know that the results differ in reality.
In other words, great moments don’t always end well. How will you write the next chapters of your story?
