I got to a point in my life where I was tired of all the temporary highs.  The reason I only experienced temporary highs was because my gratitude for everything was short lived.  Every time I gained something new or experienced something exciting I felt a momentary high of bliss and joy.  Everything felt like it was in perfect harmony.  My desires, wants, needs and expectations were all met at that exact moment so I felt a great high.  However, that same high came crashing down very quickly.

I could never seem to maintain that elated feeling of happiness and bliss.  This was because I was conditioned to believe that happiness isn’t supposed to last.  This misinformation was the leading cause of all my burn outs and crashes.  I lived a life chasing moment after moment never being satisfied with the stillness that occurred after an event or incident.

I was always moving on to the next thing in pursuit of happiness, failing to see the importance of basking in the ambience of feeling good from the previous or current event.  It was always during the hallow chase that my high would dissipate into nothingness and leave me feeling empty and useless.  It left me feeling unfulfilled.  I needed to change this horrid feeling and fast.

I changed by consciously forcing myself to take an extra 10 mins to focus on the good from the current event I was occupied with (I know this might not seem like a long time or it might not seem like it makes a difference but applying this regularly drastically impacts life).  Rather than instinctively jump to the next situation, I made the effort to remind myself of how I felt.  If I felt good, I would allow myself to concentrate on that feeling for an 10 extra minutes because I know I wouldn’t make the time otherwise.  By doing this, it prevented me from starting something new immediately, it prolonged the blissful sensations and kept me feeling content and fulfilled for a longer period of time.  My time spent was now being redirected to feeling good and allowing those feelings to be and last.

It’s important to remember that gratitude is attitude.  By changing our attitude in our pursuit for happiness and taking the time to feel grateful we allow those temporary highs to become more permanent or longer lasting highs.  By being grateful for the event/situation at hand and allowing ourselves to consciously focus on feeling good longer, we build up our tolerance for happiness.  We realize that we can remain happy longer all thanks to how we perceive that happiness.

Time to reflect:

Do you face temporary highs because you’re constantly chasing after the next thing that will make you happy?  How long does the high last?  A day, a few hours, or maybe even a few minutes?  Try to practice consciously focusing on feeling good or the high you get from whatever it is you’re doing.  If your instinct is to naturally feel bad as soon as the good feeling is experienced or is over, then consciously try focusing on feeling good for an extra 10 minutes on top of what you already felt or did.  By doing this, you are conditioning yourself to prolong your “high” and ultimately feel happier for much longer.  

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy”.
~  Guillaume Apollinaire