What is it?

‘’I just want to be happy” is a challenging construct to work with.  A concept, vague, intangible with no grounding in a physical form and yet it’s a destination I hear mentioned regularly in my work.  Yet when I ask ‘’If you were happy, what would it look like, how would you feel?’’ there are no direct answers to the question.  How come?

There are 27 distinct emotions and happiness is right up there.  However as we cannot often articulate what it is for us as individuals we make a statement but actually, in reality, we have little idea what it is as all emotions are fleeting and take 6 seconds to be absorbed into the body and then its what we do with them after that.

Many believe we ‘should’ feel happiness most of the time or for some be in a constant state of happiness.  The bad news is that this is just not possible, nor realistic.  Any heightened emotional state is not sustainable but it’s the feeling it gives us that we crave so we find different ways of exploring what make us happy and for every single one of us this will be something specific to us.  We strive for happiness in both healthy and unhealthy ways.  You will be aware of what your personal go to is.

So back to the construct, its not tangible so how do we know we have it?  In reality it maybe more good things are happening than bad but if the last 2+ years are to go by and the global pandemic what makes us happy may have shifted considerably. 

When we in full lock down we couldn’t go out and do things externally that may have made us happy (experiences, buying items or breaks away) we had to be content with our own company and that of others where we lived and simply get on with it.

So over the last 2 years has your idea of what happy is changed at all?

If we grasp the fact that happy is fleeting and will pass and that’s ok,  when those moments do come our way and we feel happy, lets embrace it and enjoy the moment.

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