On my passion unlocks prosperity website one of the most read articles, month after month is titled “Fear of Happiness”.

The essence of the article is that people are afraid of happiness because losing it, after having it, may be more painful than never having it in the first place.

A case in point: Someone who has been through the painful breakup of a relationship. Do they remember the wonder and joy of those precious moments when love touched their hearts? What is usually remembered is the awful disbelief and pain that comes when the love between two people dies. The suffering and pain is what becomes associated with happiness. Not the feeling of happiness itself.

Because we want to avoid pain we avoid situations which can bring us pain. If you want to avoid the pain of unhappiness, avoiding situations which bring happiness is actually protecting yourself from pain and suffering. Fear of happiness is fear of the inevitable unhappiness that follows.

Does this sound insane to you?

It does to me. In my case, some pain and suffering were necessary steps taken on the journey to greater happiness. Attempting to find happiness in the wrong situations was responsible for whatever unhappiness I experienced. Yet, many people, having been scarred by the wrong situation, become convinced that they are not destined for happiness.

I think it’s a cop-out.

Everyone I know who has found happiness had to pay a price. True joy and fulfillment always comes with some bouts of unhappiness along the way. Ask any one of them and they’ll tell you it was worth it. Finding what makes you happy, for the long term, is always worth the risk of a little unhappiness in the short term.

Being unhappy means you’re on the wrong road. Just take the next turn and get on a new road. The road to happiness!

-Bob Baran