Unrealistic Destination vs. Realistic Experience
HAPPINESS
Thought of as a destination (unrealistic)
INSPIRATION
Thought of as an experience (realistic)
We think of happiness as something we will be able to get to, a destination to which after we arrive, we can relax.
We start thinking about the “I’ll be happy when’s,” which inherently assume that once we become “happy,” the struggle is over. We want to believe we’ll arrive at our destination with a one way ticket and metaphorically sip margaritas in the sun indefinitely.
This doesn’t actually happen, and when our sunny days get eventually interrupted, we are left feeling disappointed.
We can avoid this unrealistic vision of happiness that is laden with unhappy side-effects, and instead use inspiration to stay present and enjoy the journey! When we are in an inspired moment or activity, we are lost in it’s soul-quenching energy. We aren’t thinking about or worrying about how long we’ll feel inspired, and we feel fulfilled in the experience without needing it to last forever.
The inspired experience is always enough, and we know we can always jump into an inspired moment to tap into truly happy energy – any time and without a plane ticket!
Happiness Example: I’ll be happy when I meet my weight loss goal. Then I won’t have to worry about it so much and maybe then I can eat whatever I want and won’t ever have to worry about my weight again! That can’t be too good to be true, right? Who cares, I’ll be happy then, so I’ll withhold feeling fully happy until I reach that goal.
Inspired Example: I just love how alive I feel when I’m doing yoga. It’s my “me” time and I enjoy connecting with my body and my breath. I don’t have my perfect body, but I sure enjoy the yoga experience!
Want more inspiration? Happiness is Overrated - Live the Inspired Life is your friend along your journey to living your happiest life through inspiration!