We often overlook absence of something undesirable, our minds focusing on the next thing, next goal, forgetting that absence of something undesirable has been our goal in the first place and is hence an important part of our happiness.

Take an example of a gardener. She sprays the path with herbicide, weeds are suppressed. Instead of reflecting on the fact that the weeds are gone, what lead to this outcome and how it makes us feel, we tick the box in the mental checklist, move on to the next thing and add another requirement to what needs doing. Absence of something undesirable is no longer a registered achievement that we worked hard for, it is a given. The process repeats itself. It is never enough and we are never content.

So we must slow down, reflect, become mindful of undesirable things that are absent in our lives and what we had to do to achieve that. Let’s be grateful for absence of that that we do not want. Because absence of that that we do not want is happiness itself.