"Are you happy with your life? It's the million-dollar question. Many of us spend significant time trying to answer it, or, paradoxically, avoid it altogether. When we're dissatisfied, we're taught to examine gratitude and focus on the things we do have. Or, we're taught that if something doesn't make you happy, change it. Both are true, but what happens if we're somewhere in a lingering middle?"
"There is one thing we can do, but it requires asking an uncomfortable question, one that does not assess mood, materialistic possessions, or circumstances. It assesses trajectory, and for many people, it remains unasked, not because it is unclear, but because the answer carries implications that are difficult to face: If nothing changes, can I live with this life? Psychological equilibrium is a general concept used to describe an internal state of mental and emotional stability, balance, and familiarity."
Many people feel mildly dissatisfied despite stable, tolerable lives because familiarity creates psychological equilibrium that favors known states over change. Common coping strategies like practicing gratitude or deciding to change circumstances can mask deeper ambivalence when life feels merely 'fine.' A crucial diagnostic question asks whether one could consent to living the current life unchanged, focusing on trajectory rather than mood or possessions. Psychological equilibrium, rooted in familiarity and cognitive schemas, can perpetuate repeated decisions and emotions. Evaluating life by consent reveals whether current patterns are chosen deliberately or accepted by default.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]