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> Just do something that helps others The primary reason for my unhappiness is that the majority of my time (excluding sleep) is spent in the service of others

> Just do something that helps others The primary reason for my unhappiness is that the majority of my time (excluding sleep) is spent in the service of others and very little time is left to do things for myself. I'd love to have enough time to read more than 3-5 pages of a book per night.

jodrellblank 5y ago
It isn't though, the primary reason for your unhappiness is not "I can only read 5 pages a night", if you were so busy with other things you love and you also managed to read 5 pages per night as well, you could be very happy. It isn't the page count, it's the mental story.
- acuozzo 5y ago
  > if you were so busy with other things you love This, of course, assumes that the time spent in service of others can be changed or that the consequences of that change would not further contribute to unhappiness. I have a close friend responsible for taking care of his infirm mother. They receive just enough financial assistance from the government to get by, but not enough to get her even part-time assistance. His father is dead and she requires full-time care, so he is stuck in the unfortunate situation of having to do everything for her. This has been the case for the past fifteen years. He loves her, but obviously hates this situation. Unfortunately, he'd also hate himself if he were to leave her to die. > It isn't the page count, it's the mental story. For some, yes, but for others like my friend this would reduce to very unconvincing mental gymnastics. People sometimes have shitty lives for reasons that are largely outside of their control. To consider a more extreme case… would you give this kind of advice to a depressed enslaved person?