Don’t... if you think it’s going to make you happy

To be clear:

Her point is if you think any external place is somehow going to make you happy, you'll be disappointed.

Only you can make yourself happy. You take yourself with you wherever you go.

In my case, I'm already happy, and not expecting anything from India but a learning experience and different work environment.

Still I thought her point and the way she put it was so beautifully succinct I had to post it here.

It's my feeling that thinking "happy" vs. "not happy" is totally irrelevant. I would re-compute and think in terms of "me" vs. "not me." I think the only question you need to ask yourself is "Is going to India for six months something that the real Derek Sivers would do?" If the answer is "yes," go!

Absolutely true. You can't escape from yourself. Whatever you try to leave behind is already waiting at your destination, sometimes heavily disguised.

So both options are o.k. once you realize.

Happy New Year; Derek!

I thinks its a wonderful idea as long as I get to visit and crash on the couch. Basmati rice with yellow curry sauce is my favorite!

After reading that comment Derek, I think we both came to the same conclusion. Usually after a few days, the excitement of going to a "new" place wears off. I think it is similar with going to new jobs, getting a new car, new clothes, etc...

Someone once told me "It isn't the money you are after, it is the FEELING you get from it." However, I think it is one and the same with living in a new place.

I hope that makes sense. Brilliant response!

Jared Matthew Kessler

(Author of "The Poet and the Billionaire")

Beautifully said! Love it!

hey Derek everything is so serious,how bout you come up to Summit,Ny for three of the 6 months and help me develop a reality tv show for musicians I've been working on... just kiddin...well no I'm not, but anyhow good luck and please travel safe. You are the first I would nominate in the Indie music Hall of fame if their was one.We need you here!!!

1. Good luck on your move to India! Go for it if you wanna! But please make sure you do all the vaccinations and don't drink non-bottled water, even at expensive restaurants. I heard bad things about it.

2. I found it out when I moved to Tibet. That per se did not make me even a tiny little bit happier. Ha-ha!

3. Happy New Year!

4. Very strangely, Derek Sivers was in my dream last night. I don't remember the context but there was some plot line, some philosophy, something - don't remember.

5. Again, happy new year! In India or on the Moon...

Would be a great opportunity! I've been wanting to visit more of Europe and elsewhere for years.

As someone who lived in India, I can guarantee it won't make you happy! It will, however, provide such a vast distance that new perspectives are bound to arise about where you live, how you live, how money really can make a difference, why overpopulation is a travesty and perhaps, even, who you'll want to be when you return.

Go if you have a calling ... it's truly an altered state of consciousness!

I think more to the point is that if you are happy, DON'T go anywhere. Why would you tinker with life when it is working? A bomb, kidnapping, or beating can turn a smile upside down. Internal happiness is very important but external reality actually has MORE clout than many people think.

Perfect and simple. This reminds me to share a recent quote my visiting uncle just shared with me, from an Arabic proverb: "Trust in Allah, but always tie your camel."

joe livoti, Ram Das wrote that in my copy of Be Here Now when I was on the road and ran into him at a Sebastapol book store in the 90's.

Derek,

Can you tell me why you want to go to India of all places?

...Because it won't. Interesting coincidence - My quote for the Day gadget offered the following at the same time you posted this, Derek:

Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.

- Robertson Davies

Go so I can come to visit you!

Yeah happiness is nowhere but inside of us, blablabla... but India is gorgeous, intense, crazy, chaotic and peaceful all at once. So go, go, go :-)

I haven't seen anyone mention the freshness of perspective that comes from being in a new place, away from one's routine- perhaps an appreciation for what is going 'right' and a renewed resolve to change what is not.

Wow I feel like an idiot for how long I sat there trying to understand that!

What a thought provoking statement. Happiness is often misused however. Personally I believe happiness is the state between anxiety (future thinking) and depression (past thinking) being completely in the present moment. Routine is wonderful for productivity but too much routine encourages our minds to go on autopilot, it knows exactly how today is going to roll out this may cause our over active minds to dwell on the past or future. Weeks go by in a blink. Travelling brings us right back down to the present. Navigating the slums of India or subways of Hong Kong removes the luxury of day dreaming and that feeling of sensory overload and being fully in the now creates a blissful state of awareness where creativity and new ideas can flourish.

I like comment #1. (Hi Derek)

Yes, it's another Derek metaphor, not merely about travel. So here's my own: What I like about travel is walking around with that sense of anticipation. But I don't suppose it would last six full months. So after singing Carly Simon's line "An-tic-i-pation..." I would sing, whether here or there, her line "These are the good old days."

Sir
Welcome to India

You would get more spiritual and also have lovely friends here, which you can't get anywhere else

Yours
VN