I often use childhood as my reference point. I wanted to be out of school, I wanted all the time in the world to play computer games (or to read science books), I wanted to learn more, and I wanted my parents to buy all my toys for me. And I know I can achieve all of them now. I just happen to have developed new desires, and I become unhappy when I can’t fulfill some of those new desires (like getting a significant other, or getting into a prestigious university). And then i ask myself, “well, really, shouldn’t I think back to how much better I am compared to myself when I was 11?” It’s not a realistic reference point for everyone, though, since desires change with puberty. But even then, if you use age 15 or 16 as a reference point, can’t you see that you have much of what you wanted back then? (although friends are often harder to get than before, for some people anyways) And that you probably now have so much more than you had back then?
I often use childhood as my reference point. I wanted to be out of school, I wanted all the time in the world to play computer games (or to read science books), I wanted to learn more, and I wanted my parents to buy all my toys for me. And I know I can achieve all of them now. I just happen to have developed new desires, and I become unhappy when I can’t fulfill some of those new desires (like getting a significant other, or getting into a prestigious university). And then i ask myself, “well, really, shouldn’t I think back to how much better I am compared to myself when I was 11?” It’s not a realistic reference point for everyone, though, since desires change with puberty. But even then, if you use age 15 or 16 as a reference point, can’t you see that you have much of what you wanted back then? (although friends are often harder to get than before, for some people anyways) And that you probably now have so much more than you had back then?