Do you know what is better than eating a piece of cake? I’ll tell you… It’s not knowing that you are about to eat a piece of cake, and all of a sudden… you are given a great piece of cake that you have never had before, while on an empty stomach. This is the essence of spontaneous joy.
What sets spontaneous joy apart from pleasure is that it is grounded in the moment. Rather than being rooted in the past or the future, like most pleasures with thoughts priming our nervous system, spontaneous joy takes place in the here and now. And that is what keeps it free from the burden of memory stress or expectation.
The following pages will enable you to open yourself to the joys of spontaneity, thereby freeing you from the pull of past influence and future expectation once and for all. You will discover just how vital spontaneity can be in terms of taking control of your life, especially when it comes to being fully alive in the moment.
- Expectation vs Spontaneity
- Not-so-great expectations—discover the relationship between spontaneity and joy, and see how the level of joy is increased as the level of predictability lessens.
- The Science Between Pleasure & Joy
- Discerning the real McCoy—learn the true difference between pleasure and joy, and see how pleasure is self-created, whereas joy is the byproduct of a truly unique experience.
- Summing Up Expectation vs Spontaneity
- Bringing it all together—review the dynamics of expectation and spontaneity, and see how chasing after joy only serves to push it further out of reach.