I love your expansion of the idea of how acceptance works towards happiness. You are so right. What exactly do we accept and when? The idea that life is full of bads and goods and accepting that reality and not being thrown by it is so right. And not letting our unhappy moment define our personhood is key.
I think that Americans, especially, are prone to sense of entitlement to happiness. We live in a country where we are in charge of our own destinies and the pursuit of happiness in our inalienable right....... ...and when we don't have it, we wonder what is wrong.
The "you deserved to have it all" media also perpetuates this myth that causes so much dissatisfaction.
I think that way too often people (more women than men) make a career out of being unhappy. If they weren't unhappy, or angry, or whatever, they wouldn't know who they were.
But when we are going through the hardships, it is sometimes hard to remember that "this too shall pass". I've noticed that when I'm happy, I regard it with a little bit of distrust. I wonder how long this good fortune can last and prepare myself for its flight, which in itself erodes the fullness of the moment's joy. I wonder what I did to deserve such happiness. Sometimes, I think I might be afraid to be happy. Why? Is it that I realize its impermanence and fear the letdown when it goes? Or is it that I don't feel I deserve to be happy on some level?
Yet, when unhappiness comes in.........it' s like it settles right in with a heavy darkness and makes itself a home in me. And I find myself thinking, "I'll never be happy again." And I often need dear friends to shed the light on me and help me to remember that "this too shall pass."
Why is it that joy seems so fleeting, and sadness seems so permanent?
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