For some of us, happiness and excitement never seem to last for very long.
Every time we finally take pride in ourselves and develop confidence about the future, something adverse seems to happen within a relatively short order.
It might be something that we find ourselves actively doing that collapses our spirits, or we start to worry acutely about a matter that suddenly enters our minds or an incident occurs from out of the blue that unsettles us.
Maybe we read something online that seems mean-minded and worrying.
Or we catch sight of ourselves in the mirror and feel repulsed.
Or we suddenly think of something we said or did seven and a half years ago that may have been misinterpreted and misconstrued — and start to panic.
Or by some odd impulse that we really don't understand and so can't resist, we do something foolish and contrary to our normal values which brings on guilt and shame.
And as a result, we are 'brought back down to earth' fairly sharply.
We end up — only hours or days after the good mood began — in a familiar place of fear, anxiety and disappointment.
It can be as if — without quite realising it — we are operating under some sort of secret law: thou shalt never be exuberant.
