Happiness

There’s a song in “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” detailing all sorts of happy thoughts. Ice cream, learning, doing, loving. 

None of it is wrong.

But none of it is complete.

You can eat ice cream sad. You can love someone sad. Anyone who’s had heartbreak probably has done both of those things at once.

Happiness comes from two elements acting mutually. 

Presence and pleasure.

People can only be happy in the moment. That’s presence. Existing in the here and now, with all senses active to the input they are receiving.

Pleasure comes from the mind’s interpretation of the senses. A tasty food, a pretty picture, all of these things derive pleasure.

Pleasure is also the most confusing and elusive element of this formula. Many people think certain things bring them pleasure when actually, they… don’t. Something associated with that thing is the true source of the good feelings they feel.

How many people do you know who are serial monogamists? They get into relationship after relationship, thinking that the next partner, the “right” partner, will make them happy.

What are they actually chasing?

Maybe it’s security. Maybe it’s novelty.

Whatever it is, they’ve mistaken it for “a relationship.”

It’s our job to pick apart what we want, what will make us “happy,” and seek it deliberately. 

How do we begin that internal excavation?

Let’s talk.

www.allforlovecoaching.com