I’ll Be Happy When…

We’re conditioned to believe that happiness and satisfaction are waiting for us in some future moment when things change in our favor.

I’ll be happy when…I get that promotion, when I find the perfect partner, when I lose weight, when they take care of my needs, when I buy a house, when I retire, when I make more money…

While these goals are worth striving for and pursuing, we don’t have to delay our happiness until they’re accomplished. We don’t have to make our peace contingent upon future events, we don’t have to work for or deserve happiness, we don’t have to put it in the hands of other people and external things. Happiness is not something we need to attain, but something we can cultivate without waiting for a change.

The life we have right now isn’t a trial period until something better comes along. This IS life. Let’s not neglect it or judge it as not good enough. 

The Problem With Happiness

Personally, I think it’s not happiness that we’re truly after. Happiness is an unsustainable, ephemeral state, a brief high. Contentment, meaning, acceptance, peace, and connection are much deeper and more meaningful than happiness. They are not conditional of things improving and changing.

We don’t need to give up on happiness and throw away our desires, goals, and imaginations. In fact, I believe it’s our duty to follow them. But we don’t need to wait to be happy, to feel alive, and be content.

Internal experiences we long to feel are available to us right now. How?

Where Focus Goes, Energy Flows

In any moment, our life is complex and full of unrealized potential. In any moment, there are blessings we ignore while focusing on the lack. Our life is filled with all sorts of experiences, some of which fade into the background while others take center stage.

What do you allow to take center stage? Where does your focus go? Are you aware of what’s missing or what’s present?

We always find what we look for, so if we look for all the ways in which we’re failing and lacking, we will find them. If we look for happiness, contentment, peace, connection, and gratitude, we will find them too.

It’s not true that we have nothing to be grateful for and happy about, we just need to look for their presence in our life as it is.