It is a realization both simple and profound: genuine happiness does not come from accumulating more and more pleasant feelings. When we reflect on our lives and the many nice things we’ve experienced, have they provided us with lasting fulfillment? We know that they have not – precisely because they don’t last. The tremendous danger of this belief – that genuine happiness comes only from pleasant feelings – becomes a strong motivation to stay closed to anything unpleasant…. The transforming realization of meditative awareness is that happiness does not depend on pleasant feelings. In meditation  and in our lives, it is not so important what particular experience arises. What’s important is how we relate to it.

Joseph Goldstein, A Heart full of Peace