There have been a number of times people get mad at me because I don’t seem to get upset by things. The most common interpretation of my attitude in those situations has often been described as malicious indifference. I wouldn’t say that… but some people do. A more accurate statement would be that I don’t give a fuck.
Not about you. Your children. Your job. Your thoughts. Your hopes. Your dreams. Your expectations.
Though it is important that I clarify that in case someone misinterprets my general meaning. It isn’t that I am heartless or soulless. It isn’t that I am indifferent. I think indifference is not showing or feeling interested. Or at least in that context, my friends seem to prefer to believe that I care so much that it forces me to pretend not to care. That sort of thing takes WAY more energy than I’m willing to exert. For anyone. Or anything.
I really just don’t give a fuck.
And that is the secret to my happiness.
I will share one of the most important things you will ever learn. I am happy because I don’t give a fuck. The two go together.
Unhappy people tend to care.
A lot.
About everything.
In fact, the more they care, the unhappier they become. They care what people think. They care what people say. They care what people do. A by-product of caring is feeling upset because whatever it is that you care about will invariably disappoint you. Most people become unhappy because they are disappointed. That in and of itself isn’t a big deal. The problem though is that since people care about so many things, the weight of all that caring and disappointment will bog them down.
You might be thinking that I’m advocating not caring about things, but that isn’t correct either. What I am advocating is learning what is worthy of your attention. What things in your life deserve caring about. Once you learn to weed out the things that don’t matter, the easier it is not to give a fuck. The fewer fucks you give to things that don’t matter, the more fucks you have to give toward things that DO.
So, if you want to be happy, care less.