Tag: Stories

Life is better when you’re unhappy.

Gordon was at his happiest when he was unhappy. He was a morose child (what people didn’t realise, though, was that Gordon had chosen to be a morose child). He believed that happiness would always be taken away from him, so why pursue it? This thought process came about after he had not received a present he had been looking forward to one Christmas. This led to a lifelong pursuit of unhappiness. He was not a pessimist but, as he concluded, a realist.

He was born into a good family who were financially secure. His parents wanted the best for him and his siblings without heaping any pressure on them. So it was a life choice, not circumstance, that made him feel this way. Gordon decided not to do well at school because it would mean he would be more likely to get a good professional job, which, ultimately, when he got sacked or made redundant, would be devastating. He toyed with the idea of joining the entertainment industry or working at holiday camps, but realised this would give him pleasure. He did not want this because then somebody could take it away from him. Having a professional qualification would only give ammunition to his beliefs.

So it was with great joy that he got a mundane job in a local factory after leaving school, packing sprouts. It was not long before he was offered a promotion to grading sprouts, but he turned it down because it might have made him happier. Gordon’s friends, who had now graduated from university and were looking at corporate jobs in the city, invited him on a year of backpacking in Australia, but he turned it down in favour of a weekend alone in Blackpool because, as he concluded, if he spent time in Australia he might enjoy it, and then he would have to leave.

This was brought about by his embrace of unhappiness. Blackpool was wet, cold, and extremely boring, and fortunately this made Gordon sad and depressed. There were no thoughts of building relationships or keeping friends because he might end up enjoying their company. He did have a girlfriend he met whilst packing sprouts, but when she told him she wanted to make him happy, he ended it. He was worried for his siblings, who were in strong relationships with children on the way. He would make himself available to console them when he believed it would all turn sour. Unhappiness was inevitable.

Life was uncomfortable for Gordon, and he liked it that way. He expected nothing and gave nothing. He knew that there was far more out there in the world to chase, to dream of, and to have taken from him. Hopes and expectations and goals might bring great times, but Gordon outweighed this with the bad times they could also bring, and so remained on his pursuit of unhappiness and unfulfilment. It was knowing what he could achieve that made him unhappy. But this was his choice.

As the years went on, Gordon became fully convinced that to be happy was a failure, as it would all come falling down anyway. He believed that he was not depressed or suicidal, but a realist. That which he never had could never be lost. Friends, who were now few and far between, tried convincing him that happiness was a wonderful experience, and Gordon, in return, would relate it to a thief who stole from your home. If it was an empty home, then the thief could take nothing.

Gordon remained with the sprout-packing company for a few years, but as he became good and quick at packing, it gave him a sense of achievement, and so he left. He tried his hand at road sweeping, but the recognition from the locals put untold pressure on him to be more successful, so he walked away. He then saw a job advertised working as a male model for a fashion agency that was under pressure to take on oversized models for diversity.

He had let his appearance go over the years and was now overweight, and had never been classified as handsome even in his youth. He hoped that he would receive a lot of negative feedback, which in turn would reaffirm his unhappiness. Therefore, this was a good opportunity for rejection.

Unfortunately, it did not go to plan.

Gordon found himself much in demand and extremely popular. He had mistakenly signed a one-year contract and felt obliged to fulfil his commitments. He found himself modelling clothes and taking on a variety of other assignments. Money and fame were rolling in. Offers of marriage were coming from all angles. Gordon was extremely unhappy that happiness was engulfing him. He tried changing his appearance to be more unkempt, but this only added to his appeal. He was desperate to be unhappy. The tools to happiness were all around him.

Film offers came in. Unfortunately, life was good, and slowly but surely Gordon began enjoying it, but felt that he was letting himself down.

So he did the only thing left to him: he embraced happiness.

He continued working in the modelling industry and accepted the accolades surrounding it. He married and had children. Gordon went on luxurious holidays and treated friends and family. He set himself goals and had dreams. By pursuing happiness, he had gone against his own beliefs.

Gordon, though, had experienced the good side of life, which, unfortunately for him, had tainted his understanding and belief in being unhappy. Looking back, he realised he had sold himself out to happiness. It was all-consuming, and for the rest of his life he would crave unhappiness again.

Gordon now uses his experiences to motivate and educate people in the “Pursuit of Unhappiness”. He talks of the happy days when he had nothing to be happy about. He warns his listeners of the dangers of happiness but, unfortunately, is making a success of this.