It’s sometimes hard to be happy

We’re “supposed” to be happy! And sometimes we try really hard to be happy and it still doesn’t work.

Maybe it’s better not to try so hard to be happy? Maybe it’s okay to just feel okay.

Maybe we could just become aware of moments when we’re not miserable! That would be a good start.

We need to train ourselves to appreciate and take in those simple moments of life where things are actually okay.

When we see our moments of “okayness” (moments where we’re not suffering) as moments worthy of appreciation we open the channel to true well-being. And wise attention to those okay moments can show us how good life is even when it isn’t spectacular.

So…we have our work cut out for us! As neuroscience expert Rick Hanson says:

“The brain is like Teflon for positive experiences and Velcro for negative ones.”

So…if we really would like to experience more moments of happiness or joy, we could focus on being aware of, and appreciative of, our moments of peace and contentment.

We could notice that we are

• not angry,
• not sad,
• not unhappy,
• not miserable.

And we can then feel grateful and appreciative in the moment. And that, dear friend, is what I would call being happy!

What do YOU think?