The Happiness Trap

thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories are just not that easy to control.

What is natural for human beings is to experience an ever-changing flow of emotions—both pleasant and painful—varying throughout the day depending on where we are, what we’re doing, and what is happening.

we give our full attention to what we do, so we can do it well and make the most of it.

Our minds all do the same things. It’s part of being human.”

But suppose that STRUGGLE against your “bad” thoughts and feelings is actually making your life worse? In ACT we have a saying for this: “The solution is the problem!”

This is completely normal; all minds do this. Your mind isn’t trying to make your life harder; it’s just trying to keep you safe, protect you from pain.

Strategy 1: Treat Everything as an Experiment

To quote the legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

you can never know in advance whether you will achieve your goals; all you can do is keep moving forward in a meaningful direction. The future is not in your control. What is in your control is your ability to continue your journey, step-by-step, learning and growing as you progress—and getting back on track whenever you wander.

In STRUGGLE mode, we actively try to stop our thoughts and feelings from dominating us.