“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”

This quote, by Benjamin Disraeli, really speaks to me as I reflect on some difficult choices I’ll need to make–Choices that will ultimately result in action.

Doing nothing and staying in a place of familiarity, i.e. inaction, is often our easiest and most popular decision. Most of us don’t venture into the unknown without a bit of trepidation. However, while doing nothing feels safest, it can have a negative effect on our happiness depending on our current state of affairs. Yet, doing something can also have a negative effect. So what do we do when the result of both action and inaction can have equally negative results?

As this quote reminds us, one thing is certain: Doing nothing rarely changes anything. So if we’re unhappy now, perhaps something needs to change. Perhaps there’s something we need to start, stop, or both. Once we figure out what that thing (or those things) are, we just have to go for it–knowing that it’s the surest way to change our current situation.