Timewarp: Puppies don't stay puppies forever

In this post on 31st January 2010, I attempted to explain why happiness just doesn't stick around.

Why happiness can be fleeting

I am definitely going to make an effort to post here more often. What’s brought me here today though, is a topic that was brought up on the Young Writers Society (www.youngwriterssociety.com). A member asked “Why are the feelings of happiness/joy generally only momentarily?” I thought I could apply some Buddhist thought here, so this is what I came up with:

Why are the feelings of happiness/joy generally only momentarily?

Because everything is always changing – people, places, situations, relationships, etc. Even our perception of happiness changes. Let’s say Suzie buys a puppy. She’s so happy that she finally has a puppy. She feeds it and walks it and plays with it. But over time, the joy that she felt when she bought the puppy begins to fade. Perhaps because she’s gotten used to it (so her mind has adjusted – her own mind has changed), perhaps because she doesn’t have as much time to look after it as she did at first (her circumstances have changed), maybe because the puppy is getting bigger and isn’t quite as cute as it used to be (the puppy has changed). Things just change. And if everything is always changing, including ourselves, how can we possibly expect the same thing to always make us happy?