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How Can I Hold On to Happy Feelings of Euphoria?
Key to Creating & Maintaining Joyful Emotions

Dr. Matt,

My name is Janet, I'm 25 years old and live in Orlando, Florida. I am single, and have not connected emotionally with a man in a long time, perhaps ever.

Good afternoon! First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this email (and presumably, responding). I had an epiphany today, which I have never had before. I think I may be happier today than I ever have in my life. It's the strangest thing, I feel like I'm the most happy person that I know. I feel like I've been depressed for as long as I can remember, and over the past few days it's just lifted from me, a little bit each day. It's incredible.

I want to tell my family that I love them, I want to somehow share this feeling with everyone I know. I feel no anger towards anybody. It is incredible. And I feel like I never want this feeling to end. I want to grasp onto it, and remind myself that it's possible, in case it ever leaves.

I've had a bit of a cold, so I'm taking Prednisone, Clarithromycin, and a Benadryl last night. Other than that I am on no medications, and have never taken psychiatric medications. I'm quite sure extremely happy euphoria is not medicine related.

My questions to you are: Will you give me words of encouragement, and advice on how to stay like this? How can I share this feeling with everyone without them thinking I've suddenly gone insane? But I'm very concerned that if something bad happens, and my feelings suddenly crash, I want to make sure I know that there's a way to recover; I want to know that it is possible to recapture this wonderful feeling again.

For the record, I am not religious, I don't believe that God exists, but I feel such an incredible sense of enlightenment that I understand how a religious person would think he's been touched by God. I'm sure a lot of people would be convinced that I've been touched by God, but I don't believe it.

Thank you for your words of advice.
   
Gratefully,
Janet

Related Articles: Ontological Assumptions: Why Do I Exist? What is the Purpose of Life?

Dear Janet:

It's possible that you experienced a manic/euphoric episode due to taking the drug Prednisone. Certain drugs can produce a momentary state of euphoria. Little wonder that drugs are used to feel temporary exhilaration, and to escape from the realities of human hardship.

Whether or not your "most happy" episode was due to drugs, there is a way to initiate and maintain euphoric feelings without drugs, but first the right foundation must be laid. If you choose not to lay the proper foundation, you will NOT be able to access euphoric, happy feelings that endure over time.

FOUNDATION LAYING: If you get psychiatric help, why should the professional you happen to meet with, know the TRUTH? And why should you accept what he or she tells you? You see, there are as many different psychological approaches as there are religions. Fact is, the paradigm that your psychiatrist will teach you, is analogous to learning a religion. How so?

Every scientist and therapist proceeds upon the basis of "assumptions" that are no different from "beliefs." Scientists and therapists call the "religion" you will learn from them, a "paradigm" — a set of tenets to follow, just like any religion might set forth tenets to follow.

Which therapist will you meet with? What set of assumptions (beliefs) will he or she teach you? Unless you do your homework over time, the therapist you ultimately end up with will be a random/pot luck selection. Who knows what philosophy/religion you will learn from your "pot luck" therapist?

The way you can KNOW TRUTH, and KNOW whether any therapist, scientist, or religionist is speaking the TRUTH, is by applying five 5 time-tested methods of epistemology. In other words, you'll need to be as SMART, or SMARTER, than your psychiatrist/therapist/religionist to discern the validity of assumptions/beliefs they preach and assert.

Yesterday morning, I went "bird watching" with my older brother. Because my brother is a "birding" expert, he knows exactly where certain types of birds hang out — he knows the locations of their preferred habitat.

We saw birds that are abundant and common in my area: Robins, Sparrows, Starlings, and Swallows. And we saw birds that are less common: Yellow-Breasted Chat, American Dipper, and Yellow Warbler.

Regardless of whether you "think" these birds exist, or whether you "believe/assume" that I saw them, the reality of these birds remains — they are real. If you don't "think" they are REAL, your "belief/assumption" does not make them disappear or cease to exist.

How can I convince you that these birds exist? One form of empirical proof is the actual photos of some of the birds I saw: Yellow Breasted Chat, American Dipper, and Yellow Warbler.

The "American Dipper" is an amazing bird: It completely submerges underwater to find its food. You expect ducks to go diving, but the American Dipper is a songbird! The American Dipper is the ONLY songbird that swims beneath the water, like a duck. Watch the American Dipper fly under water!

Pictures supply empirical proof that certain birds exist on this earth. Now, the fact that I saw them, you'll have to take my word for it. If you got to know me over time, you would come to REALIZE via pragmatic proof that my word can be relied upon.

Janet, for more than 40 years of my life, I have experienced consistent pragmatic and empirical evidence that a Supreme Being exists: epistemological proofs of His active, responsive existence. By the words "active" and "responsive," I mean that the Creator communicates: He talks and listens; He loves and cares.

If you do not "believe/assume" that the Creator exists, your "thinking" about this reality does not make God disappear or cease to exist. The fact of His REALITY remains whether you REALIZE it or not.

BUILDING UPON A CORRECT FOUNDATION: If you want to initiate and maintain happy feelings of euphoria, then you must embrace the principles upon which that happiness is based. Through what I thought was a"pot luck" registration at my university, I landed in the classroom of Harvard-trained Reed H. Bradford. My experience in his class has had a profound effect upon my life, ever since. Here are the wise words of my Sociology 101 Professor:

The Journey

For this is the Journey that we make:
To find ourselves. If we fail in this, it matters little
whatever else we achieve: Money, Fame, Passion, Revenge.
When we end the Journey, we can put them all into
a bin marked “ashes.” They mean nothing.
But if one has found that she has within her
a divine soul, if she has discovered the principles
upon which the fulfillment of that soul is based, and
if she implements those principles, then she has a mansion
within which she can live with dignity
and joy each day of her life.

There is no other way to experience feelings of euphoria that endure over time, than to learn and live true principles authored by the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are happy feelings associated with drug-induced euphoria, but these happy highs are fleeting: You may feel like superman for a temporary time, only to cycle back down to depression — the same depression that motivated the drug-taking in the first place.

Janet, Life is Self-Correcting. When you are not doing Life right, . . . Life will not do you right either. It's the Law of the Farm: If you sow Weed Seeds, you should NOT expect to harvest Apples.

Obviously something is not right in your life: You've struggled with bouts of depression AND you have not enjoyed emotional health sufficient to attract an emotional connection with a man; and because you are harvesting "weeds," this is why you intend to see a psychiatrist: You are hoping for a fix!

If your psychiatrist does not provide you with Apple Seeds, you will NEVER grow an Apple Tree, nor enjoy the harvest of Apples. If your psychiatrist gives you Weed Seeds (incorrect ideas), then your harvest will inevitably be . . . Weeds. Again, unless you diligently apply the methods of epistemology over time, you will take "pot luck" on the "religion/paradigm" that a psychiatrist will teach you.

Over a forty-year span, the Creator has responded to me thousands of times in very personal ways. I've had unmistakable experiences of the Creator answering specific questions and requests — empirical and pragmatic experiences beyond mere coincidence. These proofs are discernable to my senses: I can clearly SEE branches, bushes, and flowers moving by the force of invisible wind; and while the wind may be unSEEN, the influence of wind is completely plainly SEEN — openly visible and observable.

You don't have to "believe/assume" that what I'm telling you is true: If you will simply follow the evidence, and allow empirical, rational, and pragmatic proofs to lead, . . . you and I will eventually arrive at the same place.

For now, you would be wise to heed the advice of Dr. Wayne Dyer: "Don't believe everything you think." Prove every assumption/belief, . . . follow the evidence AND follow your happiness. Over time, consistent experience of euphoric, happy feelings will clearly correlate to True Principles.

Sincerely,
Dr Matt

Matt Moody, Ph.D.
Social Psychologist

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