(a) Think about the goal that you are trying to achieve.

Convince people to stop perscribing me goals and lifestyles so that I can be happily loved for who I am, as long as I'm not hurting people.

(b) Begin to think about and write down all the thoughts that you have about that particular goal and the main components of it. What are you current feelings about people who are making more money around you?

I empathize with people who feel an intense pressure to conform, and who are rejected and ostracized for thinking differently. I admire people who can put themselves above it, though I suspect their success is often related to status and financial independence.

When you think about [your goal], what feelings or thoughts come up for you?

I don't like that it seems my only option to comfortably be myself, free of judgment, is to persuade people to stop being so judging and perscribing happiness strategies for other people. This strategy is counter to my goal, as it is judging and manipulating others, which makes me feel like an anxious hypocrite, but I don't see any other solution.

Also I don't like that I'm expected to be happy in the first place. I think sadness is simply part of being human. Thus, I think when people make goals like 'happiness', they are setting themselves up for failure. Expecting happiness is itself a form of self-sabotage, because nobody is happy all the time.

It bothers me when people try to put a band-aid on real world problems, by convincing themselves that they should be happy despite the rape, murder, disease, homelessness, abuse, violence, and starvation that is occuring all around us. With all that, it makes sense that people are unhappy; being happy with that seems delusional if not anti-social, and expecting others to be happy despite all that appears equally absurd. I think convincing people that things like sadness and anxiety should be avoided just gives these emotions more power to harm people, as it adds negative social consequences to already negative feelings.

I wish people loved and respected me and were happy to be around me whether I myself am happy, or angery, or sad, etc. I'm just a person, like everyone else.

How do you feel about actually being able to achieve this goal some day? Does it feel like a distant, almost impossible and removed concept or something you can envision happening?

Yes, it seems impossible. I don't think I'll ever acheive the goal. It would require changing an entire culture, wherein even the experts support an unrealistic obsession with self-assuredness and happiness at great cost to many who are suffering.