64. Chasing Happiness

It's mid-June, and I've already declared it a long summer. Our boys have been out of school for three weeks, and at this point, my parenting goal is for them to maintain literacy until school starts again in August. I genuinely love having them home, and it's been a long summer. Both can be true…And one of the biggest traps we fall into as humans is thinking they can’t be. We're told to pursue happiness. We think we need to find it, choose it, and protect it...as if happiness is a destination to be reached. But what if the expectation of being happy all the time is actually what keeps us unhappy? In this episode, I explore why we struggle to hold two seemingly opposite truths at the same time. That if we're grateful, we shouldn't feel annoyed. If we're happy, we shouldn't feel sad. If we love our kids, we shouldn't be frustrated by them. But what if the problem isn't that we experience both? What if the problem is that we expect ourselves not to? What We Explore

• The myth of permanent happiness…Why happiness isn't a destination and why expecting it to be can create unnecessary suffering.
• The second layer of suffering…How we turn normal human emotions into problems by judging ourselves for experiencing them.
• Package deals…Why the things we value most often come bundled with both rewards and challenges.
• The power of "and"...How it can shift the way we think about gratitude, frustration, joy, sadness, and everything in between.
• Being human…Why experiencing opposite emotions doesn't mean something is wrong. It means you're alive.

Questions to Consider Where are you making yourself wrong for being human? What emotion have you been resisting, judging, or trying to eliminate? And what if it's not evidence that something is wrong? What if it's simply part of the package? Here’s where you can find me…

• Learn more about working with me at The DASH Mindset.
• Connect with me on LinkedIn.
• Have an idea for a future episode? I’d love to hear it!

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