Have you ever felt so incredibly happy with your life and wondered to yourself "When will the shoe drop? Will this happiness last? Do I need to brace myself for something bad waiting to happen?"

If you have, you're not alone. I've been there and for years I used to live preparing myself for the next bad thing whether it was health-related, work, my relationships, something in parenting, my love life, the list goes on. The story or mindset of having to be prepared for loss is the part of ourselves that's trying to protect us from the feeling of pain or loss. When it comes to our own happiness, many of us are familiar with the pattern of taking two steps forward, one step back.

I self-sabotaged my own happiness by allowing these thoughts to keep me from pursuing my own joy.