The Happiness Hedge
A framework for investments of the mind
“The fundamental delusion - there is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever.”
Naval Ravikant
I have giant goals and daring dreams that, if realized, I believe will make me happier. But a rather unsettling thought is getting what I want, and it not making me as happy as I anticipated.
Hence the idea I like to call the happiness hedge.
There are the obvious barriers to happiness that are physiological in nature: drug addiction, poor sleep, bad diet, lack of exercise, and other evils. That’s not what I’m talking about.
Even with the great gift of robust physical health, there is still the most fundamental delusion of the mind: once you get that thing, once you go to the new place, once you do this, then you will be permanently happy. Then everything will be all set, and at last you will live blissed-out ever after.
All the great wisdom traditions know that this is fiction. It’s just not how the human mind works.
The fulfillment of desire leads to the creation of new desire. This is one of the Buddha’s Noble Truths. When you overcome some form of suffering or dissatisfaction, it gets replaced by a new, relative suffering or dissatisfaction. “What is happiness?” asked the haunted face of Don Draper in the show Mad Men. “It is the moment before you need more happiness.” So it goes for people who are not present.
By all means, stay invested in the idea that getting what you want will make you happier. I sure am.
But hedge this investment, too.
Hedge it by dwelling deeply in the present moment. Hedge it by letting yourself be joyous, here, now. Hedge it by guarding against the fundamental delusion, the dangerous delay of your happiness.
Moments pass, and time never passes back the moments. The wisest possible thing you can do, then, is just enjoy.
This essay was originally published on February 28th, 2024.