The Happiness Assumption

I am not sure if many of you know but I am participating in a coaching group this year with a small group of women and it is headed up by Jill Coleman, who if you don't know her... find her and see what she is all about. My life is better because she is in it.   Anyway... each month we get a book to read. This month it is Being Happy by Tal Ben-Shahar.   I am only a little ways through the book at the moment but I am blow away by two concepts and I can't wait to see what else I learn from this book.

1) Assumption of happy people always happy - The author talks to a wide spread assumption that he covered through talking to people about happiness. It is the thought that "that truly happy people are some how immune from feeling sadness, fear and anxiety of from experienceing failures and set backs in life. " It is a sign of perfectionism.

Now I would not have consider myself a perfectionist. If you know me I try to be a comfy, casual, roll with it person.  However, I have spent many an hour beating the crap out of myself for feeling more sad or moody than I feel like I should with the amazing life I have. In essence, I completely buy in that happy people should always be completely, floating on the clouds happy.  Huh. Will need to think and practice around this one a little more.

2) The book provided an insight to me on at least one reason Crossfit makes people better.  - "Taking on challenges instead of avoiding them has a great long-term effect on our self-esteem more than winning or losing, failing or succeeding.  Paradoxically our overall self confidence and our belief in our own ability to deal with set backs may be reinforced when we fail, because we realize that the beast we had always feared-failure-is not as terrifying as we thought it was. "

I get a chance at least several times a week to feel afraid. I see a workout that makes me start thinking "I can't do this, it is too hard." I get that deep pit in my stomach that makes me want to run, get in my car and go home.  But I do the workout anyway. Some days I just barely get through, some times I thrive. Either way I know I am a better person for it on the other side and I am happy that I made the choice to stay.  It is good to have it confirmed that facing challenges regularly is good for the self-esteem.