I ran across an older interview with J. K. Rowling the other day in which she recalled how she felt a week after she got her American deal for the first Harry Potter book. She told The Guardian:
"...One of my very best girlfriends called me and said 'I thought you'd sound so elated.'
"From the outside, I'm sure everything sounded amazing.
"But in my flat, where I was still a single mum and I didn't know who to call to do my hair, everything felt phenomenally overwhelming.
"For the first time in my life I could buy a house, which meant security for my daughter and me, but now I felt: 'The next book can't possibly live up to this one.'
"So I managed to turn this amazing triumph into tragedy, in the space of about five days..."
I take two things away from that:
- Whatever neuroses are screwing up your life at the moment won't go away when you attain your goal.
- That's a good reason to address them now.
When I find myself thinking I'll be happy when (some future event happens), I try to remember to stop and think about what I can do to be happy now. It works a fairly high percentage of the time, so you may want to try it.
Is anybody ever THIS happy?