A Stalker Friend, Epicuro, and a Lesson on Happiness

Everybody has that friend.
The one who keeps sending videos, articles, books, opinions.

Mine is relentless.
She never stops. She does it with impressive energy and consistency — despite my constant requests of:
“Please, leave me alone today.”
Borderline abuse 😄

Yet… this time she sent me a video about Epicuro and his philosophy of happiness and inner peace — and it stayed with me.

Epicuro believed that happiness (ataraxia) doesn’t come from adding more:
success, money, titles.
It comes from removing unnecessary fears, desires, and mental noise.

Happiness isn’t found in accumulation, but in subtraction.

That doesn’t mean we should all be happy with a sandwich instead of a £500 steak.
It means: you can want the steak — but you don’t make your happiness dependent on it.
Because the real goal isn’t the steak.
It’s not being hungry.

That sense of “not needing” is a powerful vehicle for peace — and pleasure.

In my coaching sessions, I see the same pattern again and again.
People aren’t unhappy because they lack ambition.
They’re unhappy because they feel:

- not good enough
- not wealthy enough
- not focused enough
- not performing enough

People don’t need more goals.
They need fewer false expectations.

Fewer “I should”.
Fewer fears about the future.
Fewer stories about who they’re supposed to be.

Stress is rarely about today.
It’s about the story we tell ourselves about tomorrow.

So I’ll leave you with this question:

What if the next level of growth isn’t more — but enough?