Guideposts to Happiness will, I hope, provide useful suggestions for dealing with life. My intent is to offer guidance to those who struggle with mood fluctuations, depression, anxiety, and other forms of emotional distress. Yes, I went to medical school and so received very basic training in psychiatry. And yes, I’ve supplemented that education with considerable reading of both popular and technical texts about mental health, neuroscience, and spiritual growth. Even more relevant to this project, however, is my surmounting of emotional difficulties in the course of my own life.

Here’s a little background: Although depression has been a fixture in my experience off and on for thirty years, my psychiatric issues became especially acute when neck disease ended my career as an oculoplastic surgeon back in 2000. This major loss overwhelmed defenses that had always been rather fragile due to an upbringing filled with both bereavement (my mother killed herself when I was in first grade) and abuse (soon after her death I went to live with my father and his second wife, who turned out to have a sadistic hatred of children.) For the past decade I’ve engaged in a pitched battle against my psychic demons, and I’m happy to report that the past several years have brought me greater peace of mind than ever before.

I now feel more contented and satisfied with life than during my years as a successful and affluent surgeon. This is true despite some major and disfiguring health problems, financial insecurity, and chronic unemployment. The past ten years have taught me that happiness has much less to do with one’s success and material circumstance than with one’s acceptance and adaptability.

Each entry in Guideposts to Happiness will offer a pragmatic suggestion for daily living. Some will be obvious, like exercise or meditation, but I will try to make even the basic advice interesting by including obscure information or unusual perspectives. Other tips will be my own invention, borrowed from my growing toolbox of techniques for coping with a mind that, while creative and passionate, tends to get bogged down in sorrow, worry, and regret. Keep the toolbox image in mind, because the best way to cope with troubling emotions is to have more than one way to cope. Flexibility and creativity are key. What works on a day filled with fatigue and sadness may be less appropriate for a day of edgy anxiety. What has value for those times when life seems empty and meaningless may be less useful when we feel scattered and over-committed. So that’s one guidepost: build a toolbox.

However, my personal goal today has been to get started on this new blog. So here’s my official advice for Wednesday, 11 August 2010: GET STARTED. Even the smallest, simplest step in the direction of improvement will give a flagging heart the message that you are going to take charge and accumulate the skills necessary to enjoy life. I cannot promise freedom from mood fluctuations, depression, anxiety, and so on, but I can promise the achievability of contentment and satisfaction. Contrary to the popular belief that happiness means pleasure, true happiness comes from living every moment with gusto, even when it hurts. Whatever obstacles you face, you can begin NOW to break down your discontent. You can begin NOW to live fully in spite of your problems, and you can begin anew every time you stumble. Take the tiniest step, and you have begun the journey to a new life.

Happiness as I’ve defined it requires work, and it requires developing a deep level of acceptance, but anyone in any situation can succeed. Naturally, success requires effort, and effort has to start somewhere. So start here, start now, and start again every day. Before long you will be amazed at how easy it is to enjoy the life you already have. Welcome to Guideposts to Happiness!

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From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (August 13, 2010)

From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (August 13, 2010)

    Last reviewed: 12 Aug 2010