My morning thoughts about happiness 💭

On my way to puppy training school this morning with my little dog, Finn, I noticed two advertisements that sparked some thoughts. 🐶

Here’s what came to mind:

Over the last three years of coaching people, I’ve noticed something consistent. The biggest source of unhappiness in our society stems from a lie we’ve been sold: the idea that we should be happy all the time.

I know—it sounds ironic. But let me explain:

☯️We live in a perfectly balanced universe. Without heat, there would be no cold. Without fear, courage couldn’t exist. And without unhappiness, we wouldn’t even recognize happiness when it shows up.

This morning, I saw two ads. One was a picture of a smiling cookie at ☕ Tim Hortons that literally said, "Buy a smile." The other was a 🍪 Ritz cracker ad that said, "Open for fun."

Marketing constantly sells us happiness. The unspoken message? "You should be happy all the time, and if you’re not, something’s wrong—and you need to fix it immediately."

That one belief, in my opinion, is at the root of so much addiction in our society. When you finally realize it’s okay to feel shame, boredom, anxiety, or fear, you stop trying to numb those emotions. And here’s the irony: when you stop resisting negative emotions, your life actually becomes less negative overall.

The Main Idea:

It’s okay to feel negative emotions. In fact, if you can become the kind of person who welcomes them in, your life will transform. You’ll experience fewer negative emotions and learn to use the uncomfortable ones to create the big, fulfilling life you want most.

Share your thoughts below and let's talk about this.

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