Short-term negative emotions are frequently required in the path to the greatest long-term joy. To obtain the greatest long-term joy, you have to develop a continuous habit of sacrificing the present for the future.
Any limit on present sacrifice necessarily translates to a limit on future joy. Meaning is what produces the longest and strongest joy. Intimacy, investment, commitments, and all other things that generate the greatest meaning require the greatest sacrifice.
What makes you feel good right now will probably make you feel terrible long-term, and vice-versa. The path to unspeakably great longterm joy can be unspeakably terrible in the short-term. For example, great loss reveals areas where you lack what is required for greater joy, significant affliction seems to be the only path to gaining true appreciation for what you would otherwise undervalue, and both of these lessons are required to attain deep joy.
When it comes to joy, you can't have the greater positive without first going through a greater negative. If you see a purported path to greater joy that doesn't include new costs, the path is a lie, any apparent increase in joy from it will be temporary and, in the end, it will leave you with less joy than you started with.
Comfort almost always inclines away from growth, and growth alone can maximize long-term positive feelings. The pain of improvement is always less than the pain of staying the same.