Looking for Happiness? Stop Looking in Your Neighbor's Yard
It's easy to be so focused on your own yearning for a better life that you forget how much you have. It's especially easy when you live in a city like New York, surrounded by people who are going through the same struggle. But those around you don't want what they don't have, and more importantly, they can't help with what they don't have- meaning anything outside of their own yard is wasted energy to them. So before expecting others to solve your problems for you, stop looking in their yard; it will only make things worse.
Many people are looking for happiness and fulfillment outside of themselves these days. This is an understandable result of a consumerist society that preaches the message that what you have isn't enough, and the only way to be happy is to buy more. But this "more" does not exist outside of ourselves. When we feel like we need more, it's because we're looking outside of ourselves for solutions, and so long as this continues, there will never be a solution. Happiness can only come from within us; it can only be found by locating the source of our happiness within us
The greatest reason why most people are unhappy has nothing to do with the situation they find themselves in. It is a result of an inability to accept that what we own is all we need, and a failure to see the beauty in the world around us. Instead of appreciating life for what it presents us with each day, we always look for greater things in life. We might have more material things today than yesterday, but that doesn't mean we're happy, it only means the money buys us whores and junk food, neither of which are doing anything to make us happy or give meaning to our existence.
The problem with trying to find happiness by buying more is that you're never going to find it. You can't make happiness by spending more; this will only fool you into thinking you've somehow become happier. But what you will find with this approach is greater anxiety and unhappiness. So stop looking in your neighbor's yard for happiness, because creeps are going to be peeking over the fence at you, expecting something from you.
The only way to find happiness is by looking inside yourself, and more importantly, by being content with what you already have. Stop changing things around you for new things to replace them; just appreciate the things you have right now. The right perspective can take anything in the world and make it amazing, regardless of whatever problems there may be in your life. Happiness is an inside job- it is a state of mind that must be worked on every day- but once it becomes a habit, it will become easier. You will not always find it easy, but you cannot expect happiness from things that do not belong to you. Happiness is the unique property of only the owner who knows what it's like to be unhappy.
One day, something inside of you might happen that makes you so happy that all your problems seem too insignificant to worry about. But until this happens, don't put too much faith in outside forces to solve your problems for you; these people are just looking for something valuable to take from you and make themselves feel better about their own problems because they don't have anything of their own worth sharing with others.
The answer is inside; it's within your grasp right now if you only stop looking outside yourself for more. And if you don't believe me, then I don't know what else to tell you. It's clear that you're not happy with what you have, or else there wouldn't be such a desperate tone in your voice.
Take it easy and keep it real,
-Ramba the Chameleon
"I am aware that I have a tendency to gush over certain things, but only because I am trying to express the bursting contentment that I feel from these experiences. That said, I will still express myself as best as possible because writing is something nobody can take away from me. I hope that expresses how I feel about what I am doing."
"I am not working for any particular company or cause; I am working for myself. The real reason why I write is because I want to share my experiences with the world."
"I never wanted to be a writer; it just came naturally to me after many years of being curious and reading everything possible. Writing has always helped me sort out my thoughts and understand things that have happened in my own life, which is why it became natural for me. It's a form of therapy."
"If I could tell my 12-year-old self to be a something, it would probably be a writer. I always had an interest in writing and reading even from a young age, but I never thought of it as something I could make a living off of until I was much older."
"I'm easily amused and am often inspired by the things that take up space inside my head. It's hard for me to explain how this works since it's not something tangible, but if there is something inside my head that is rattling around in there, then it will find its way into the content of what I write. I am not a comedian or anything like that; I just try to find things that make me laugh in order to make my stories more interesting."
"I'm a big fan of some TV shows and films, but show I've recently been interested in is the original Crossbones TV series. I could never get into it when it was on the air, as much as I loved Hugh Jackman, but now that it's done on Netflix streaming, it has become my go-to movie."
"I'm a big fan of the late great Robin Williams. I had no idea he was disliked as much as he was when I originally heard of his death. He always seemed like the most stand up guy in the world to me, and his death has made me realize that it's okay to laugh at people who like to be laughed at."
"I've been a fan of the movie Zoolander for years. It's such a pure product of its time, and it still works every time I watch it."
"I don't know why I think this is funny but every article about Donald Trump is always a page turner and will have me laughing while crying at the same time.
Conclusion
Ramba the Chameleon is a truly unique voice in the world of professional writing. He started out on Twitter and quickly developed a rather large following, and later started to write erotic fiction, which he continues to do today. Though his writing often takes stylistic cues from the prison literature of his hometown and the 19th-century novels of Charles Dickens and Emily Bronte, it also contains elements of memoirs written by public figures such as Jim Morrison and Hunter S. Thompson.
"I have always been interested in what makes people tick," Ramba said when I asked him why he writes with this style. "I'm curious about what makes some people so unlikeable in life, while others are heroes.