Originally Posted by artsoul

I started to redefine happiness and what I found was inner peace. I let go of the craving to be happy, to be always looking for a better emotion, or someone to give me self esteem, or whatever need I thought I had at the moment. I started allowing myself to have a bad feeling. I didn't judge it or invest in it. I just kept reminding myself that it was temporary, that it didn't need to define whether I was happy or not. It didn't get rid of the pain right away, but the more I observed it without judgement, the more I was able to look at things without the need to escape or control them. The more I practice this, the more I feel a sense of peace.