“By having an endpoint (death) gives me a reason to make the most of right now.” Ryan Holiday of The Daily Stoic
Are you afraid of death?
Are you happy?
Can you be both at the same time?
With 5.82 million dead from COVID-19 (as of this writing) and millions more suffering long-term effects, yes you can feel both. In fact, the knowledge of death enhances your happiness.
Writers and pundits have called this moment in history, The Great Resignation, The Great Renegotiation and even The Great Re-Training. More people have quit their jobs in the last six months than in the last ten years.
The US Bureau of Labour Statistics reports that four million (4,000,000) quit their jobs in July 2021. People between the ages of 30 and 45 had the highest rates of resignation.
WHY THE QUITTING?
Death & You
There’s no shortage of explanations (See: Resources section) but mine is an absolutely simple one. Here it is; Death Focuses the Mind Like Nothing Else.
Not since the height of the AIDS epidemic have we experienced so many deaths caused by a single infectious disease. Unlike HIV-AIDS the transmission rate for COVID-19 was fast and the victims died in weeks or even days.
By the end of 2020, COVID deaths were not distant events easily ignored. Even those who initially shrugged off the severity of the disease came to know people who died from COVID-19. We are all afraid of death but this close and personal experience of Death on a grand scale stamped itself on our national conscience.
As the pandemic closes, millions of people quitting their jobs reflect only one small portion of a larger picture. Longer hours at work, might mean more money but that extra cash does not translate into greater joy in life. Raises and promotions don’t increase job satisfaction, nor can they reverse burnout.
According to a 2014 Gallup Poll, Thirty-nine percent (39%) of working Americans worked fifty (50) or more hours per week and Eighteen percent (18%) claimed to work sixty (60) hours per week. Considering that there is a steep decline in productivity after more than 55 hours on the job, extra hours are not only pointless but also mentally hazardous. Many people have come to ask, “Is all this work really worth it?”
The resounding answer after the pandemic is, “No!”
What Lesson We Learned from a Deadly Pandemic
In death, there is no reprieve, no reprisal of our roles in life, no escape. It is the truest finality.
Life is incredibly precious and more fragile than we want to believe. The pandemic reduced the number of people in the total workforce. Employees no longer have to accept low pay and Bullsh*t jobs.
“Fools all have one thing in common, they are always putting off living.” – Seneca The Younger
Every moment spent at an unsatisfactory job is a moment lost forever. In fact, one study suggests that people who hate their jobs enjoy life less than people who are unemployed. Considering the risk factors of long-term unemployment, that’s frightening.
The COVID pandemic of 2019 – 2022 has brought about The Great Realization: More Money Does Not Lead To Greater Happiness.
Happiness & You
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself. Marcus Aurelius ‘Meditations’
As with so many other things, the ancient philosophers only guessed at what is now scientific fact. One thousand eight hundred years after Marcus’ death, the science of positive psychology has distilled happiness into a formula.
H= S + C + V
Your long-term happiness is the sum of your Set Range (S) plus Circumstances ( C ) added to your Volition (V). Willingness to work on (V) varies from person to person.
H = Your baseline of happiness. This is how much happiness you feel over a long period (months to years). Winning the lottery might change your level of happiness, but only in the short term.
S = Genetic factors cause some of your happiness, like height and eye colour, some of it is predetermined.
C = The Circumstances of your existence have a role in happiness but exactly how much is debatable. Your religion, social network, marital status, and nationality affect your happiness in positive ways but are not guarantees of it.
What definitely does not alter long-term happiness? More money.
In 2021 Costa Ricans were happier than Americans. An increase in the amount of money definitely you have does not lead to long-term happiness. An increase in income over $70, 000 US dollars does not increase our happiness.
V = As much as 40% of your happiness depends on what you do and think. This is what Marcus Aurelius meant. So much of how we feel depends on our free will. Here are the mental states under your voluntary control that increase or decrease happiness:
Gratitude (Past) for things and experiences already gone
Flow (Present) Calm focus on what you are doing at the moment
Optimism (Future) Things will get better.
On any day you can change your thoughts, habits, and processes to be happier. Like everything else, constant practice leads to better results.
Happiness Failure
“Success does not lead to happiness as often as happiness leads to success.” Julia Boem and Sonja Lyubomirsky – Journal of Career Assessment.
So, if the greatest factors for happiness are under our control, why aren’t we happy?
Gratitude, Flow and Optimism are hard to quantify. Money, how much you made, and how much you have is easy to measure.
Neither the Mad Men of Madison Avenue nor the hoaxsters of Hollywood get paid based on our (the customers) happiness. They get paid for increasing our consumption. In short, our greatest influencers make money from keeping us anxious, insecure, and unfocused.
The COVID Pandemic has forced many into confronting their mortality and search for happiness. By being afraid of Death we now more actively pursue the joy of Life.
Conclusion
The Great Reset is our moment in history where many people have had their faith in the importance of money destroyed. The pursuit of more money to buy more happiness has proven false, in a big way.
What will YOU do? Will you attempt a ‘return to normal’ or examine your life, find what’s important, and have a Great Reset of your own?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Admin, I fully agree with you in that happiness in a total sense is the ultimate state of being. I have always advocated this, but I also include contentment, as it is this that leads to happiness. If you are truly happy, you are also contented, but you cannot be happy without being content. You are also very correct when you say you cannot buy happiness. Many find out how true this statement is when they unexpectedly receive a large sum of money and then the resulting chaos. Excellent post.
Regards, Phil
Thanks for the input. May happiness always be yours.
More than anything else, I’ve been fatigued by what feels like the constant shifting of the ground beneath my feet during this period. I also contemplated how I really want to spend my time each day for the foreseeable future and made some changes; more to come.
Thanks for this re-minder to re-focus on what’s most important to me. I also need to add some FLOW to my gratitude and optimism.
That’s the spirit!