You can’t run away from yourself

I know exactly how to become happy: acknowledge yourself and your needs, and try to satisfy them at least a little bit. A story from my recent life: last week insomnia set in — at night, thoughts about creative projects I have no time for right now kept crawling into my tired head.

During the day those thoughts simply didn’t fit into me: a pile of work tasks and family commitments, plus the quarterly report for the Spanish tax office — I could barely carry the load. And so I shoved my creative ideas into the back drawer. “They’ll wait!” But they didn’t wait — they took revenge, coming back into my poor head every single night.

And that is the essence of today’s message: we don’t wait. Don’t try to fool yourself.

Our desire to be happy cannot wait.
Our desire to love and be loved cannot wait.
Our desire to earn money, to be successful and self-assured cannot wait.
Our craving for company and connection cannot wait.
Our craving to create something new cannot wait.

When I tried to “just stop” thinking about a new difficulty mode for my game “The Pentacle of Happiness”, I stopped sleeping properly. When I stopped sleeping properly, work became hard. My family were a bit stunned too — I started grumbling and complaining, not the most pleasant sight :)

That was no good at all, so I finally found the time AND THOUGHT. Then I pinned the thoughts down in notes and diagrams of the future game’s story structure. I didn’t even have to look for some especially sacred time and place: it happened at six in the evening, on the steps of the café with the best kebabs in my neighbourhood.

Now sleep has come back to me, and with it the energy and the desire to fill the other areas of my life.

All in all, the message is as simple as a stool. Don’t try to fool yourself. Find a way to give at least a little time and energy to every area of your life.