Once upon a time...

[glatt]

Originally Posted by jaguar

I've always worked on the basis that if I was unhappy there was a reason for it and the solution was to deal with that reason, seems to have worked for me so far.

That's a very healthy way of looking at it, and I agree, as long as the reason for the unhappyness is something that you have some control over.

Contessa's problem was that she was told as a child that she could grow up to do anything she wanted to do. She dreamed of being an Astronaut, or a Rock Star, or maybe even Prime Minister. But as she got older, she realized that some dreams are not meant to be. She could work as hard as she wanted to, and would still never become a Rock Star. It was too late for her. She had a choice. She could choose to be unhappy about it, or she could focus on different goals. Goals that she had some power over.

She eventually realized that to be "remarkable" in a world of 6 Billion people is almost as difficult as becoming a Rock Star, so she decided to focus on being remarkable to the small group of people around her. She decided that she would be happy when she reached her more modest goals.