Happiness is a Pleasure

Picture this, you are out to lunch with good friends, the food is delicious, the wine is pouring, the laughter is contagious, the sun is even shining...aahh happiness. Not quite...actually it is pleasure, a passing moment. An easy mistake to make, and one we make often.

But, what we can do is use the moments of pleasure as a trigger to remind us of our happiness. Good friends, yummy food, great wine, laughter, sunshine, take a deep breath, and put these few things into the big picture...you have wealth (well, if you can afford your lunch, you do!) You and your family have health, you are out to lunch not nursing a sniffling child (or worse...husband!), and you have friends to share your life with. It’s a beautiful life.

The other day, I finally got around to cleaning the upstairs of our house. I did the works- bathrooms, bedrooms, all the washing- clothes and linen, the floors were vacuumed and the walls wiped clean of little hand prints. It looked stunning, and gave me such pleasure to walk through. Instead of letting the pleasure allow me to “think” I was “happy” I went straight to my custom affirmation, “I have a beautiful life”. I used the pleasure of seeing my clean home (not to mention the pleasure of finally committing to getting it done, and doing a great job!) as a trigger to acknowledge my happiness. I have a beautiful family, a beautiful home, a beautiful life.

Taking ourselves to this true version of happiness has longer lasting affects than pleasure. Hugging friends’ goodbye after a lovely lunch, only to return to your home with squabbling children and a messy kitchen...the pleasure of the lunch soon wears off!
If you have used the experience to remind you of your total happiness, including the healthy, beautiful, squabbling children, the messy kitchen that can also sparkle and all that encompasses your happiness, the feel good moment won’t be fleeting. It is a state of being.

There are so many moments of pleasure in our lives. Laughing with workmates, dinner dates, holidays, even a visit to the hairdresser! All perfect opportunities to place these small moments into the larger representation of our lives, our happiness. Our beautiful lives. Lucky aren’t we!

suzy x