We are inundated with a barrage of pressure coming at us from every direction, telling us that we’re supposed to be happy. There are songs that espouse it, slogans that preach it, and TV shows that dramatize it. We’re frequently told that happiness should be our primary goal in life. There seems to be a social measuring stick related to ultimate life satisfaction with happiness as the golden bell we must climb to ring at the top.

Using happiness as the bull’s-eye for success is a set-up for failure. Feelings are fleeting, they come and go like the seasons. To try and hold onto happiness, by creating a system so that it remains constant, is like expecting Spring to never change. We cannot freeze time, just as we cannot freeze emotional states of being. As we grow and change as people, so do our feelings, and what inspires those feelings changes too.

You can enjoy feeling happy without it defining your success in life. Happiness is an ever-changing feeling, defined by you.

Activity:

  • Grab a sheet of paper and a box of crayons.
  • Write on the top of the sheet of paper:
    • Right now, happiness for me is…
  • Spend 20 minutes drawing about what happiness is to you right now. It could be pictures, or just colors and designs that express happiness.

Affirmation: I allow feelings of happiness to come and go, knowing that they will always return.

Journal Cue: Write about 3 instances in your life when you felt happy.

© 2018 Amanda Lee