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Why You Don’t Really Want to Be Happy All the Time

Happiness | Lifestyle

We are all spiritual beings having a human experience. ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I first heard that quote during a yoga class and it has stuck with me for years.

No matter what you believe religiously, that moment you unroll your mat or sit on your meditation pillow and bring your palms together in namaskar to focus your mind and energy in love-filled prayer, you feel a connection to a Divine energy within.

That energy reminds us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We are all spiritual beings who were born onto this earth for a reason: to have a human experience. I think it is an idea that we all hear when we get on this spiritual path.

When we realize we are part-human and part-Divine, we set our sights on a better life.

That isn’t a problem until we decide that a better life means smiling constantly and never having any obstacles. Somewhere along the line, this idea got stuck in our minds that there were only two ways to live: being happy or being sad.

Then, we begin to start creating our heaven on earth with dedicated yoga, meditation, and self-care practices in an attempt to be walking sunshine all the time. That kind of idea is setting you up for failure.

Now, I love being happy. I love doing cartwheels in the green grass, lying on my stomach on a sunny beach, dancing under the stars, and playing in the snow. I love cuddling with my puppy, singing along to the radio, and skipping through fields.

But, there is a difference between being happy all the time and being a happy person. Happiness is just a human emotion. It’s part of the human experience and, you know what, so is sadness. The trick to being a happy person is to not get stuck in any particular emotion.

Don’t get clingy with happiness and don’t try and suppress your sadness. Suppressing something doesn’t make it go away. It just goes into a box somewhere deep inside you and that will only make you a ticking bomb that will eventually go off. Feel everything, but don’t get stuck in any one emotion.

Happy people embrace all of their emotions, because they are a gift of their human experience.

Bundle up in a quilt and put on some fuzzy socks and get a good book when you need comfort, but don’t dwell in grief or fear. Breathe in and honor the feeling. Feel as long as you need to. Then, release it.

Happy people are in a healthy flow of emotion. Happy people are still okay even when they are unhappy, because they know they will bounce back. A bump in the road does not send them falling into a deep hole. They fall, wipe themselves off, and get up: moving with the ebb and flow of life.

The better way to live isn’t always having a smile, but knowing that your smile will come back. The better way to live is having a faster turnaround rate when something not so warm and fuzzy happens.

Stacey-Porter by Stacy Porter – Stacy has a degree in international studies and is a proud member of the Romance Writers of America. Along with her Jack Russell Terrier, fondly called The Yoga Interrupter, she makes videos to inspire others to start living their dreams. Check out her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.

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