There are 3 opposing types of happiness that different types of individuals embrace:
- Immediate Happiness
- Past Happiness and
- Future Happiness
Immediate Happiness
This type of happiness is fleeting. It comes and goes. Most people focus only on pursuing Immediate Happiness. They engage in activities or purchases that give them instant gratification. The problem with focusing only on Immediate Happiness, is that, once it is gone, you are, once again, unhappy. Those who pursue Immediate Happiness as an end to itself, live only for today. There is no tomorrow, there is only today. When tomorrow does come, they find themselves, once again, sad and unfulfilled.
Past Happiness
This is the type of happiness that infects millions. These individuals are constantly looking back on the happiness of yesterday. They make a habit of reminiscing about past happiness events. These individuals are perpetually depressed. They live in a world in which they believe their best days are behind them.
Future Happiness
This is a type of long-term happiness that comes from investing in your future. Those who are the happiest in life, build a future that pays dividends for many years. Creating Future Happiness takes time and effort. It requires making sacrifices today that often require deferring or putting off Immediate Happiness in order for you to create a foundation for long-term happiness to down the road.
Those who are not focused on building their Future Happiness, default into Current and Past Happiness. Relying on these two types of happiness will always leave you feeling unfulfilled. The key to long-term happiness is building your Future Happiness today. When you do, you escape the temptation of pursuing Current Happiness and create a fire wall against the quicksand that is Past Happiness. Both lose their hold over you when you focus on building long-term happiness by focusing on creating a future ideal life.
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