04 Mar The Elusive State of Happiness
What exactly is happiness and how do we achieve it? Is it a gift we give to ourselves or is it part of a reward system? The intangible state of simply being happy is hard to find and there are no maps or GPS trackers to help us chart a course.
My husband told me I don’t allow myself to be happy. The word “allow” grates on my nerves and annoys me to no end. Who doesn’t allow themselves to be happy?! I asked.
“You don’t,” he said. “Being simply happy is difficult for you and it shouldn’t be. Everyone deserves to be happy but you don’t allow it.”
Stated like that, I grudgingly conceded that there might be a modicum, just a very small kernel of truth, in what he says.Happiness has always been an elusive state for me. It was always “somewhere, out there” in my future. There is some truth to the statement that I didn’t allow myself happiness. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy my life to an extent. It’s just that I always felt happiness was a reward for being good — for meeting that deadline, for losing those 10 pounds, for being the good girl who does everything right. I couldn’t really begin to be happy until my life had met certain conditions and those conditions varied according to where I was. Home, work, leisure — every area had its own unique criteria for how and when I could be happy.
Read more of this interesting happiness article from the Huffington Post – just click here