Last night, I decided to try again to quit smoking. I have tried countless times with little success. This time, however, I’m going to approach it from more of a happiness viewpoint than at prior times, using the future value of happiness theory I advanced below.
Not smoking a cigarette will not give me much happiness at the moment- sure, they’ll be a small sense of accomplishment, but that will be about it. However, the future value of that happiness could grow quite large. If, a year from now, I can be nicotine free and exercising regularly, the small act I’m doing now will reap astronomical returns. The future value is both huge and incalculable.
If their were a financial equivalent, I would throw every penny I had into it and wait to become rich a year later. It seems absurd that I won’t do it with something like happiness.
This goes back to something I posted about earlier- sometimes in our lives we have to be sadder for a while before we can reach a higher level of happiness. The first week I quit smoking is not going to be a pleasant experience. But that’s okay, because the happiness the activity will cause in the long-term more than tips that balance. Likewise, the first week I go jogging is the worst- I’m always sore and I feel like a failure when I stop after half a mile- but it leads to achievements that I couldn’t reach otherwise. The dip in happiness is worth it, due to the fact that the happiness returns are so high.
What I have to focus on is the image a year from now- running effortlessly through the streets of my hometown, lungs greedily and efficiently sucking up air and legs pumping like pistons as I cover miles and miles. This is possible- but only if I try for it.
So today I’m going to start stop smoking. It’s been long enough.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: goals, happiness, observations, sadness, smoking
