How to Be Happier by Taming the Phrase “Ignorance is Bliss”

“Ignorance is as ugly as it is beautiful.”

― Valerie de Vries

If you know me in real life — hopefully not, because that would mean that the only readers of this article are my friends — you’ll see that I’m mostly calm, happy, and thoughtless (but in a good way). Words that I assume you would love to have in your life too.

Where do they originate from? You may ask and frankly, the answer is easy for me. Ignorance is bliss. It comes so effortlessly in my mind after all these years of being intoxicated by negative situations in my life that for me is my new normality.

But for you, being ignorant may sound odd so… keep reading. It may help more than you’ll expect to (given that you read with a mind willing to change). In order to use “Ignorance is Bliss” to your advantage, you need to tame it first.

You’ll have to evaluate them to best fit your situation. You can’t be ignorant about everything. For instance, injustice is something you can’t be ignorant about (personally, it makes me so mad!). But anyway, I gotta let this one go as it drives me crazy and that’s the opposite of what I’m trying to present here.

Being Calm.

I’ll narrate to you a personal incident that happened to me some years ago. I was at my parents’ home for the summer and my dad was at work. I won’t be toο descriptive about it as this isn’t a filler episode of your favorite TV soap but the story goes like this.

It’s early in the morning — at least for my sorry ass who just had a wild night outside — and my mother calls my name in a weirder way than usual. I go down to the kitchen and she moves up and down saying that she ain’t feeling good, mentioning the food that made her feel weird.

Now, being ignorant here means, not getting distracted by the situation. That could resolve in being anxious and irrational. I thought — eventually correctly — that she might have an allergic reaction to something she ate and I called immediately an ambulance, thus saving her life.

Don’t get distracted by unchangeable circumstances as they can lead to irrational decisions and pointless anxiety.

Being Happy.

Okay, my life isn’t the best and I have many problems I would love to resolve now but…well I can’t. Yet. Yes, I live in my hometown still — a forsaken village in mainland Greece — and yes, I see all the missed chances go by, by being here. Does my best friend wonder how I’m still sane being here? Hell yes, but the answer is once again easy. By being ignorant.

Actually, I have all the time in the world to read about all these things I want to read and to write about all the things I read or think. I’m ignorant of situations I can’t alter right now so I’m happy with the life I’m living now.

Happiness comes when you see the glass half full and not half empty.

Being Thoughtless.

My bestie and I are pretty much the same. We have a major difference in characters though. He overthinks while I don’t. We might be in a pub drinking our beer and while he happens to stare into emptiness and gets lost in the millions of thoughts that go through his head, I don’t. When I stare, I just don’t think of anything, frankly. It’s an acquired taste.

At that exact moment in time, I’m ignorant of my surroundings and my unchangeable-everyday-troubles. I’m calm and I’m happy.

Final Thoughts

Try to be thoughtless about thoughts that consume you for no reason.

Big results require small steps. I’m certain you can gather something from this article. Just don’t let yourself down from the first day. It takes a tree to make a forest — is this even an expression? — so go on and plant some.

Easier said than done. I’m sure. I’m with you. I’ve been there, but I’m not now and we can discuss how you can leave that place too.

Originally published on Medium