Know What You’re Not
To what extent is happiness a lifestyle choice and or just something you are? Gay men and women often say they didn’t choose their sexuality, it’s just the way they are. So how much does our disposition control us rather than the other way around? It’s the same with jobs. Ask a musician or a monk and they will say they didn’t embark on a career path so much as it chose them.
Likewise people of a melancholy disposition. It’s important they (we) acknowledge it as a “disposition” so that they (I) can avoid reverting to type. It doesn’t mean that you have to behave that way. You can’t avoid something if you don’t know it’s there.
That’s probably where long term relationships test us most, because they make us look at ourselves. Sometimes what we find isn’t pretty but they always have a point.
I have the attention span of an American five year old, but I can switch off and concentrate really hard if I want to. That’s because I know how bad I can be, so I know what to work on. People who find it hard to motivate themselves are sometimes good at meeting deadlines. People who have drinking problems can be really good at not drinking.
Understand your weaknesses and you’ll be better at overcoming it than people who have never had to compensate. Know the pitfalls and you’ll steer a better course.