The fear of being stuck with happiness
Everybody wants to be happy.
Even though we all want to be happy in theory, we don’t always give ourselves permission.
Why would we do that? Because happiness is considered to be dangerous.
Although every one wants to feel good, we fear that being happy will pacify us and ultimately destroy us.
Unhappiness is like an abusive lover that we’re afraid to leave because we don’t believe in our ability to get through life successfully without having him in our lives.We’re afraid to love our lives as they are because we fear being stuck with an unwanted condition.
If we allow ourselves to be happy NOW, even though we have some things going on that we don’t like, we fear we might become complacent.
To many people, being happy no matter what sounds identical to settling for less. On the surface, it seems so much more responsible to analyze what’s wrong than to appreciate what’s right.
Appreciation might be the moral thing to do, but who wants to get stuck with a mediocre life? So we dismiss appreciation as a waste of time and dive right into the bad stuff. After all, that’s what we’re trying to get rid of, right? So WHY NOT focus more on the bad stuff?
Rethinking the concept of appreciation
Well, contrary to popular belief, appreciation is not just an act of maturity. It’s an act of creativity. When we highlight and emphasize what’s good about our lives, we ascend to a level of consciousness that empowers us to create more of the same.There are some who would have you believe that you shouldn’t be happy as long as there are things wrong with your life or the world. This idea is based on the notion that happiness is just a fleeting emotional sensation. At its deepest level, however, Joy is a creative force. When you feel good, you are in alignment with the very energy that creates worlds. And no state of being is more powerful or productive than that.
Waiting for your life to improve before you choose to be happy would be like the princess waiting for the frog to turn into a prince BEFORE she kissed it. It doesn’t work that way. At some point you just gotta pucker up and love all the ugly aspects of your life. Because you enjoy kissing frogs? No! Because your prince is trapped inside of there and you’re not going to let “being grossed out” keep you separate from him.
But you’ve gotta kiss the frog FIRST.
“I aint kissing that bleeping frog”, you may be thinking.
Well you don’t get to see the prince of your dreams until you chuck it up and kiss that ugly thing sitting over there.
“I’ll really live life once it becomes lovable” we think. But you have to love your life until it becomes livable.
That’s what tough-minded optimism is all about!
What are your thoughts?
Cheers 🙂
T.K. Coleman
T.K. Coleman's Blog 
I just love the way your mind works! That’s MY 2 cents 🙂
That means a lot to me, Cyn! I appreciate that a million times over! This post just might be the kickstarter for that 1st book you asked me about 🙂
T.K…. love it! We do need to decide to be happy rather than wait for it. I used the be the former type, where I waited for circumstances to MAKE me happy. Never happened for any length of time.
But deciding to be happy and then letting that decision unleash the creative force to bring it about, now thats exciting.
Your post was what I needed just now. Sometimes I get tangled in old thinking patterns. Thanks for walking a few steps along with me and helpin me refocus.
Ciao.
Chaz
Right on, Chaz! I know all about the journey too, bro. We’re definitely on it together. My confidence in the benevolence of the Universe continues to grow every time I take a step of faith in the direction of joy rather than waiting for happiness to come hunt me down. You definitely know what I’m talking about!
I’m glad this post resonated with you.Thanks for commenting and connecting.
Cheers 🙂
T.K.
Thanks TK…. will pop in again.
Thank YOU, bro. I’m glad to be connected with you.
so glad i found this blog!cheers
Thanks a million for that, Mike!
Cheers to you to, bro.