Happiness is often treated like a prize hidden somewhere beyond the next achievement, relationship, purchase, or reinvention. But a more honest question may be simpler: on an ordinary day, with the life you actually have, are you comfortable being you?

In “Are You Happy Being You?”, psychotherapist Robert Taibbi argues that unhappiness is usually not a mysterious condition. It is the residue of something else: problems left unresolved, a relentlessly critical inner voice, a fading sense of purpose, or the loneliness of feeling unseen.

That framing matters because it turns happiness from a verdict on your personality into a clue about your life. You may not be broken. You may simply be carrying too many things you have postponed, punished yourself for, outgrown, or tried to endure alone.

Continue reading “Happiness Is Often What Happens When You Stop Avoiding Your Life” →