From the course: How to Train Your Brain For Happiness

The inevitability of change: Overcome sad to accept change

From the course: How to Train Your Brain For Happiness

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The inevitability of change: Overcome sad to accept change

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- I have a brain science joke to share with you. How do you make a happy person sad, and how do you make a sad person happy? The answer? Tell them, "What you're experiencing will soon pass." What that joke implies is that everything in life is temporary. The ancient wisdom traditions, as well as now being confirmed by brain science research, is beginning to reveal a very important component of the human condition and also something that can sabotage your need and your ability to invest in happiness. And this one component is failing to understand the inevitability of change. Change is a constant in life and in the universe. Our suffering, or your suffering, to be more specific, can be triggered when you forget that painful experiences are temporary, as are also pleasurable ones. Nature evolved your brain to attach to pleasure and to avoid pain. The challenge is failing to understand the inevitability of both pleasure and pain. Once you're able to recognize that change is inevitable, it will help you be better prepared when unexpected challenges pop up in your life that in some ways can impede or sabotage your happiness and that primal drive for seeking safety, security, and stability. Here's a happiness equation that I want you to understand to help you invest in your happiness, and here it is. Happiness is the acceptance of the reality of change. Suffering is the avoidance of the reality of change. So putting it more precisely, happiness equals acceptance of change. Suffering equals resistance of change. The following exercise will help you apply this very fundamental equation into your work, your life, and into your daily ability to experience your life of happiness.

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