Symptoms And Consequences Of Delayed Happiness Syndrome

Delayed happiness syndrome occurs as a result of poor time management. This is when you postpone your desires time and time again due to different responsibilities that arise in your life. These delays are relentless and one comes after the other.

The negative emotions that arise from this awful habit can affect your performance. Beyond that, they can affect your personal relationships and your working conditions. This syndrome can even change your personality. This is why it is important to know how to balance your responsibilities and the activities that bring you joy. Do not let the former cast a shadow over the latter.

Happiness and other emotions

Happiness is one of the so-called “positive emotions” because the effect happiness has on your body and the conditions are positive. You can say that you feel happy when you experience broad satisfaction that is not easy to shake off. Happiness often shows up after you have reached a goal or had a pleasant experience.

It may seem that happiness is always a positive emotion. However, this is not always the case. The effects may seem positive, yes, but be careful. Your mind can also deceive you.

People feel a little happiness (or at least joy) when they imagine, remember or long for happy moments. However, this illusion of happiness does not last long and can consequently lead to frustration or stress.

Symptoms of delayed happiness syndrome

• You are always looking for something better. You are never happy with your performance and always see room for improvement. This means that you inevitably lose interest in your achievements in the past and downplay them.
• You are obsessed with money  and you save as much as you can, and plan to use it “when you need it”. However, the right time never comes, since there is never a big enough emergency to spend them on.

• You are obsessed with fear and failure. This obsession is so strong that you prefer to stay in your current situation instead of taking a risk on your personal, social or professional growth.

These three symptoms need to be addressed. Postponing happiness only leads to negative emotions. It destroys your ability to be truly happy. Finally, if you continue to postpone happiness, you may end up never getting it at all.

Consequences of postponing happiness

The effects of delayed happiness syndrome are clear. It leads to apathy, melancholy or irritability. What the person with this syndrome actually does is postpone happiness again and again. They project it forward in such a way that it never comes.

As a consequence, the only thing you end up with is fear. Not only fear of failure, but also fear of risk yourself. You are afraid of putting a lifestyle that you consider acceptable and stable at risk. The truth is that often the way you imagine your life is not realistic. It’s just a result of you accepting the belief that “I should not hope for more”.

How to deal with delayed happiness syndrome?

If you are immersed in this syndrome, you may not know that you have a problem. However, if you are aware that something is wrong, you need to act as soon as possible.

Arrange your priorities

The solution is to give way to the really important things in your life. These things are not always the same as you think are urgent. This means that you need to prioritize or set aside some time for your passions. Simply put, you need to see that there is room for joy in your life. It’s not all about suffering and sacrifice, although you may think that this sacrifice will eventually give you what you want.

As a result, longing for happiness is likely to lead you to take risks that are crucial to moving forward. If you try to avoid all risks systematically, you will end up affecting your quality of life. This is because your self-imposed limitations give you extremely little room to maneuver.

Focus on what makes you happy

No one is completely unhappy. We all have something in our lives that makes them worth living, and this is an interesting aspect of humanity. Stop projecting happiness into the future. Instead, live in the moment, which will help bring about the changes you want and need.

In other words, if you have already acquired habits that make you feel good, such as reading or traveling, try not to let your responsibilities get in the way.