Daily blog (audio): I'll be happy when..... [Complete this sentence]

<p>I'll be happy when..... [Complete this sentence]</p> <p><br> <br> We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at <a href="http://www.myrise.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.myrise.co.uk</a></p> <p><br></p> <p>I did a post on my personal profile on Facebook the other day:</p> <p>Complete this sentence;</p> <p>I’ll be happy when……..</p> <p>And, as you’d expect, got a number of replies.</p> <p>“I get a six pack”</p> <p>“I hit my ideal weight”</p> <p>And I’ve had the conversation many many times with people over the years when they express that they’ll be happy when some future thing happens.</p> <p>A physical change.</p> <p>Something finishes or happens at work.</p> <p>Some family logistic.</p> <p>We have more money.</p> <p>The question, of course, is………</p> <p>Will they be happy when that thing has happened?</p> <p>Maybe.</p> <p>Maybe not.</p> <p>From my experience, there’s an initial level of pleasure and satisfaction…….</p> <p>Soon followed by the same levels of fundamental happiness as before.</p> <p>Deferring happiness again to some other future point.</p> <p>How many times have we told ourselves “I’ll be happy when………..” and then got there………..</p> <p>And found we’re no happier?</p> <p>As a species, we inclined to not give ourselves permission to be happy.</p> <p>To feel we shouldn’t be happy when there are still things we’d like to improve.</p> <p>When there’s work to be done.</p> <p>To think we can only be fundamentally happy when everything is ‘perfect’.</p> <p>And that being happy now amounts to giving up on change and accepting lower standards.</p> <p>The thing is though, happiness is just an emotion.</p> <p>A feeling.</p> <p>We don’t defer other emotions based on selc created criteria do we?</p> <p>We don’t think “I won’t feel any fear until…….”</p> <p>Or “I’ll only be irritated when…….”</p> <p>Happiness is just an emotion.</p> <p>Energy in motion.</p> <p>A feeling that only ever exists in the present moment.</p> <p>One we can choose to feel more or less of