You Don’t Want to Be Happy: How to Overcome the Secret Fear that Sabotages Joy
Why do you spoil your happiness, and what can you do about it?
The room was bathed in warm, golden light pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Despite the cold and sterile Wisconsin winter just outside, the sunlight inside filled the space with a feeling of cheer and boundless potential.
My three young children and I played with Thomas the Tank Engine on the sun-warmed floor. My wife discovered a crate of wooden tracks and trains at a garage sale and snapped it up at a criminal price. Now, the four of us are absorbed in building a winding track across the family room floor that uses every piece in the box.
The box contains enough tracks that each child can build without interfering with their siblings. This meant I could help them create and play without being called on to referee disputes, which made this a treat for Dad.
As they play, my progeny are lost in a combination of engineering and imagination. I’m lost along with them and given over to the enjoyment of quality time with my children.
Until I wasn’t.
It hit me in a flash; I was happy. I was genuinely lost in the moment, happy.
