Happiness is a break from our lives. Whether we’ve finished a bowl of ice cream or returned from a vacation, we come back to our life exactly as we left it.

Taking a break is not recharging. Our souls are not quenched by distractions or an escape from life’s trials. We want to enjoy connecting and fully experience the connected moments that make us feel alive. With inspiration, we can instead dive into the present, living and loving every inspired moment, experiencing reality at it’s best.

Think of someone who inspires you. Create a picture in your mind as if you’ve captured a photo of them that shares their essence and why they inspire you. Got it? You likely envision this person radiating positive energy, sharing the strength of their truest selves, or participating in an inspired activity. They are experiencing reality at its best. They are present, energized and active (mentally or physically). They are connected to their true selves and pursuing inspiration. They aren’t faking a smile or sitting on a couch zoning out on their phone.

Humans are resilient. We can endure tremendous stress, be over stimulated all day, and then do it all again the next. But it isn’t sustainable.

Screen time with television, videos or social media provide easy access to decompression. But while screen time can be a simple and short-term option, it provides only a break rather than a recharge. We want a light distraction or a break from stimulus, but correspondingly, the recharge quality is as superficial as our experience of watching television.

Brain breaks are important, but breaks are not enough to live the inspired life. Breaks are not refueling or recharging. Breaks do not connect us with our true selves.

The word “break” aptly implies that it’s just a pause. Nothing is changing. Everything will be exactly the same once our break is over, though we may experience some short-term benefit from taking time for ourselves. We are looking to avoid activity because we literally need a break from stimulus, but the grind, the routine, the stimulation is still waiting for us. This pause doesn’t help to exchange negative energy for positive refueling energy.

But what if we take more breaks? Do they compound to recharge us eventually? No. Breaks spent participating in energy-avoidance activities do not compound to become recharging because they don’t replace or create positive energy. If we store stress, negative energy, or too much stimulus that is not in connection to our true selves, negative energy doesn’t truly dissipate by taking a break. We have to move that energy. We have to replace that energy.

Being inspired inherently requires being completely present. When you are enjoying your favorite coffee, witnessing a breathtaking view, mountain biking on your favorite trail, or about to cross the finish line in your first marathon, you are completely present. Everything else fades away. You literally cannot experience true inspiration if you are not completely present in that moment.

Being present leads to a healthier mindset for many reasons, including reduced stress, reduced worrying and greater acceptance of our true circumstances so that we can face them and move on.

As we know, happiness is a break from the present and inspiration is immersed in the present. When we are inspired, we experience authentic joy, elation, freedom, and self-expression. Inspiration is how we both completely lose and definitively find ourselves in the present.

Imagine your life if you celebrated each inspired moment, fully indulging in the present. The good times will feel more lasting, your life will feel fuller, and your feelings of happiness prolonged. Colors will be bolder. Flavors will offer deep trails of delight with every bite. That metaphorical rose you stopped to smell will fill your soul with enlivening fragrance.

What do you love to do? How can you take an extra moment or even five minutes to celebrate? Ideally, we want to celebrate inspiration many times a day, but for now, you may be identifying with inspiration once a day or once a week. Pause long enough to let inspiration fill and recharge your entire body, mind and soul. Find the inspirational threads in everything and watch your usual day-to-day transform into the most magical, enjoyable and fulfilling life you could ever imagine.

Happiness Example: That run was tough, but I feel energized less stressed. I can totally handle my big meeting tomorrow.

Inspired Example: That run was tough, but I feel energized less stressed. I can totally handle my big meeting tomorrow.