‘A Happy Man Has No Past’ is a beautiful thought from Richard Flanagan’s 2014 Man Booker prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
The full quote is reproduced below
A happy man has no past, while an unhappy man has nothing else.
When I first read these words, I was struck by their obviousness and amazed by how the author articulated such deep insight in a sentence of thirteen words.
One thought of this quality is sufficient to make any book a worthwhile read for me. This lovely book delivers much more.
Let’s analyze this thought to uncover its meaning.
What does it mean?
Meaning of ‘Happy’
The dictionary defines ‘happy‘ as feeling or showing pleasure or contentment. It defines ‘unhappiness‘ as the feeling of not being happy; sadness.
We generally don’t need a definition for happiness. We know it when we feel it, or more often than not, when we miss it.
Meaning of ‘Past’
The past is the set of all events that occurred before a given point in time. The past is contrasted with and defined by the present and the future.
The concept of the past is derived from the linear fashion in which humans experience time, and is accessed through memory and recollection. (Wikipedia)
This is an important point to remember. Past doesn’t exist. It is only accessed through your memory and recalling of past events or actions.
A Happy Man Has No Past
Everyone has a past.
Some of it is great and filled with happy memories.
All of us also have some not so great memories of the past.
Thinking of the past is quite different from living in the past.
Thinking of the past and about the ‘good old days’ or ‘not so good old days’ is absolutely okay. Occasionally. This is what happy people do. Happy people have no past.
However, if you are thinking about the past in a way that makes you sad, or you feel that nothing in the present or future will be better than the past, then you may be living in the past.
Living in the past is a problem. It is a problem because it indicates there are unresolved issues in your life, that you need to identify and address. This prevents you from living in the present and miss the opportunities that the present brings. This is the source of unhappiness. Unhappy people have nothing but their past.
There are three types of unresolved issues:
Past actions that make you sad.
All of us have something in the past that we regret. There is, however, no way to turn the clock back. Dwelling on those actions or events in the past is not helpful. Remember, the past does not exist except in our minds.
Nothing from the past can still exist unless we drag it into the present moment through our minds.
Emily Maroutian, Thirty
The important thing is to learn the right lessons from past experience and let go of the baggage that is weighing you down. Ensure you do not repeat the errors and move on.
The events of your past are fixed. The meaning of your past is not.
The influence of every experience in your life is determined by the meaning you assign to it.
Assign a more useful meaning to your past and it becomes easier to take a more useful action in the present.
– James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits
Unhappiness with the present.
Your current situation may be worse that your situation in the past. For example, if you are unemployed now after being gainfully employed, then it is easy to live in the past when you were the boss or people looked up to you.
However, living in the past is only a way to avoid to dealing with the current situation.
The constructive way would be to accept responsibility for your current situation, even if you had no control on it. Actively look for opportunities to improve the situation and invest the time available to grow your skills and capabilities.
Fear of the future.
Uncertainty of the future can be a big source of anxiety. It is easy to live in the past. Even if the past is not good, it is predictable.
You may be fearful of the future if you avoid making long term plans, you are not sure how the next few months or years will pan out, or you believe your best days are behind and you have no plans to move ahead.
When you feel fearful of the future, look back at your journey and be grateful for how far you have come. Everyone has had a unique journey, so comparisons are not relevant here. Make plans for the future that are in your control. Above all take action.
As Mark Manson says in his self-help guide The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Action isn’t just the effect of motivation; it’s also the cause of it.
Get moving.
Failing to deal with the unresolved issues related to the past will lead to unhappiness. If you have successfully dealt with any unresolved issues in your life, then you are on the road to happiness.
‘A happy man has no past, while an unhappy man has nothing else.’ Hats off to Richard Flanagan for articulating this thought so well.
Thoughts on Happiness and Past
Here are a few thoughts on ‘happiness’ and ‘past’ from various writers and thinkers that I have enjoyed.
What you think of as the past is a memory trace, stored in the mind, of a former Now. When you remember the past, you reactivate a memory trace — and you do so now.
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Another brilliant thought from Emily Maroutian in her amazingly condensed wisdom on life, relationships, purpose and much more. Read my review of Thirty here.
Holding onto past pain creates present pain. Holding onto old fears creates new fears. Holding onto former injuries caused by others is an act of current self-injury.
…
If you look back at your past self and feel completely justified in your choices, then you haven’t grown much from who you used to be.
If you look back with judgment and feel stupid about your past choices, then you have grown from who you used to be.
But if you look back with love and understanding for who you were and why you needed to do what you did, then you have matured.
Emily Maroutian, Thirty
Study the past if you would define the future.
Confucius
…in every age there come forth things that are new and have no foretelling, for they do not proceed from the past.
J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien, The Silmarillion
For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?
George Orwell, 1984
Property is an attempt to recover the past.
James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games
Forgiveness isn’t about the murky past—it’s about a clear future.
Emily Maroutian, Thirty
Changing your interpretation of your past is often just as good as changing your past.
@naval on Twitter
The past has no power over the present moment.
Eckhart Tolle
Finally, the advice to live by in all situations.
Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward.
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
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