No longer fearing happiness

[KathleenH]

One thing I've noticed from my continuing practice is that I no longer fear the feeling of happiness.

It's a strange one, but for a long time everytime I started to feel happy or contented I pushed it away. You would think that I would want to enjoy the feeling, but I think I was scared of disapointment. I was scared of the nice emotion going and being left feeling let down.

But slowly, with the help of mindfulness and accepting emotions for what they are, I'm letting the happiness in, I'm allowing myself to enjoy the emotion without the fear of it leaving as I know it will come back around soon. I'm enjoying it

I hope others are noticing positive changes from their continuing practice.

K

[piedwagtail91]

hi kathleen,
it's not strange, it's pretty normal.
if you've been 'down' for a long time then it's difficult to allow yourself to experience the happiness, maybe because you know it won't last and you don't want to experience the 'down' after feeling good.
i was in that place for a while
it's the clinging to good and feeling aversion to the not so good.
as you've found out,mindfulness helps you accept that change is constant and though when the happiness is gone for a short time and you may not feel it for a while you know it'll be back.
that makes it easier to fully enjoy the pleasant experiences it brings.
noticing that and accepting it is a great place to be.
mick

[JonW]

"One thing I've noticed from my continuing practice is that I no longer fear the feeling of happiness."

This is great news and a wonderful example of mindfulness in motion.
This is why we do it.
Just this.
x JW

[Gareth]

It's wonderful to hear about your experiences Kathleen.

[healthyhappymind]

It's wonderful to be able to appreciate the way our minds work to protect us, even though the methods may not actually serve us.

Insight into our own saboteurs is power in itself.

[FeeHutch]

I know what you mean, I feel the same way.
For a long time I think it felt easier not to be happy, more predictable but it makes a huge change feeling OK with the fact that feelings aren't facts so even if my feelings are up and down, that isn't scary anymore.