Is The Grass Greener ?

The grass is always greener on the other side.

This reflects the idea that many troubles of the mind involve turning away from reality by being preoccupied with the search for another life, a differentlife, perhaps a better life somewhere else. Psychoanalysts have job security because we have an understanding that the only way to find mental health is to turn toward the life that you have and to deal with it.

Psychoanalyst Melanie Klein called this human task “the acceptance of reality”— and she viewed it as a cornerstone of mental health, contentment, inner security, and peace of mind. She is in pretty good company, as this philosophy can be found throughout the ages. Buddha once said that the way to happiness is actually quite no simple; the secret is to learn to want what you have and not want what you don’t have.

The reason why this attitude undermines mental health is that it leads us to turn away from the main task of life which is to make the most of what we have. By denying the goodness of our very own lives, we believe that we have nothing good to work with nor the capacity to work with it. We lose focus, self-confidence, and hope.