Latest / The Checkpoint Podcast: Questions / Episode 36 | Have You Mistaken Stability for Happiness?
Transcript
- Podcast episode 36: Hey, it's Dex, creator of Ruby Player One and host at the Checkpoint. And today's question is Have I mistaken stability for happiness? Have I mistaken stability for happiness? That's an interesting question. I don't think I have ever associated stability with happiness in in any regard. I like stability. I like routine. But I don't think I've ever put it alongside happiness. For me, stability and routine means something that I can just do without much thought. It's automatic. It it's like brushing my teeth. It's it's like taking a shower in the morning. It's just the little things that I do that doesn't require too much thought. It's almost unconscious in a way. And I don't believe I'm trying to do this in real time. I don't believe it actually provides me any any form of happiness. I don't call up my friends and tell them that I brushed my teeth and I was really happy as a result. Maybe if it was a case of me brushing my teeth after not having done so in a week. I might tell them that. That might be a bit of happiness. But again, that's not stability, right? That that's that would be something that would that that's quite odd and spontaneous. But if we're talking about stability, if we're talking about routine, if we're talking about something that happens regularly in a way that doesn't require too much thought. or import or creativity. then I I generally wouldn't put that in the same league as happiness. Happiness for me is it can be found I think in so many different areas in in my life. It could be starting something new, starting something different. It could be the expectation of a particular result and receiving an entirely different result. That could be even better than what I thought, or even just different. it it could be a moment, it could be just being grateful of certain things. But I don't think I could relate it to stability and routine. In fact, I think now that I can hear myself talking about it, I would say that stability and and routine for me allows me to actually focus on things that make me happy. It allows me to focus on happiness because I don't need to generally think about the stuff about stability and routine. It it just kind of happens, you know. So I don't think I've mistaken stability for happiness. Although with what I just said, I can say that I can credit stability and routine for some of the happiness that I've experienced that I seek that I can recognize. Because without the civilian routine, I'm I'm having to I'm having to give thought to certain things. I need to call up that person. I need to do this work. I have to be at this place by this time to do this particular task. those are things that aren't routine, that aren't stable, so to speak. And The time that I spend in trying to calculate, trying to figure out that stuff, trying to plan my day, plan my week, that planning, brain capacity, thoughts there, if that was wrapped up in a form of stability or a type of routine, I could then concentrate on finding happiness or seeing What things make me happy, or or just basically going inner and and having these these other thoughts that don't need to be spent on trying to craft a routine as such. So an example I could probably think of is is walking the dog. walking the dog and and even driving for work. Now there is a a particular routine with that. Now I'm not saying that I I walk the dog every single day at this kind of time, but the the act of of walking Hugo is is a routine. And when I pick a particular path, I'm able to just walk it without any kind of thought, if you know what I mean. I'm just walking the path. Sure, I'm taking account of my surroundings and who's where and what other dogs are around. But Generally speaking, I I just walk the path. And and usually when I start, I kind of know where I'm wanting to walk and how far. But during that time, I I get to think. I get to listen to audiobooks. I get to listen to podcasts. I get to listen to nothing and just think. I can think about life. I can think about what makes me happy. I can think about plans for the future, plans for you know, reboot player one, plans for IT. Just all of these different things. And and that genuinely makes me happy. Thinking about the what ifs, the the creative side of life, I I think is what makes me happy. So I can't say that the stability itself, I can't say that the routine, I I I can't say that that's I I mistake that for happiness, but having that in my life results in happiness. I was I was just quickly talking about taking you go for a walk and going for a drive. It's the same thing when I go for a drive. I I I work on clients' sites, and when there's a drive involved, there's the the routine of actually driving to any one particular site is is pretty easy. I follow Google Maps and then I just drive and obviously I just make sure that I break when I need to break and I go when I need to go and don't break any rules. But during the commute, I I I do the same thing. I listen to audiobooks, I listen to podcast, I'll listen to music if I feel like I need a bit of a pep up. or I might not listen to anything. And that kind of gives me some time to think about stuff, anything. It's almost like a it's a weird way to kind of reference it, but it is almost a form of meditation. Like I I'm still conscious of where I am and what I'm doing, but it's gotten to such a level that it becomes automatic. I get it. You have to concentrate while you're driving. And I do. I've I've driven pff I've driven so many so many kilometers now, that a lot of this stuff is is quite automatic. And as mentioned, I'm still aware, but it allows me to shut off that part of my brain and it still functions fine. But then allows me to open up a different a different part where I can Think creatively, I can dream, I can imagine things and I can play different scenarios. And that part, that thinking, the creativity, the building, the dreaming, all of that sort of stuff, for me, that that's a part of happiness for me. So to answer the question clearly, have I mistaken stability for happiness? No, absolutely not. I'll never, I'll never mix them up. They'll always be they'll they will always be mutually exclusive. But I know for me personally, I need a certain level of stability. I need a certain level of routine in order for me to experience happiness, in order for me to discover happiness, to just think about things that make me happy. So if I didn't have that, if I didn't have stability, if I didn't have routine, then I would spend quite a lot of time. Trying to figure that out, trying to do things on the fly, which can be difficult for me because you know, the thing that I'm trying to figure out might not be something that I would enjoy doing. So whilst I'm trying to figure out what that is, I I don't have time to think of the things that make me happy. So that's it. That was an easy question. I thought I could probably go a lot deeper. but I think that sums it up nicely. So if you have questions like this and like to talk about it with a nice group of people, drop me a comment. Like I said, I'm still trying to work on how to nicely end these sorts of videos, and I'll get there someday. otherwise, if you want to know more information, you can visit rebootplaybound.com. I'm Dex, and I'll see you on the next video. Bye.