This quote has so many meanings, but to me, it is about getting out of your own way to allow happiness to come from unexpected sources — the person you’re not expecting, the job, the date, the volunteer gig — anything that you think would have no chance of making you happy just might, if you open yourself up to the possibility.
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Only 10 days until Christmas, so if you’re thinking of giving someone a copy of Happiness as a Second Language, there’s still time to order print copies, ebooks and audiobooks through Amazon. Give Happiness this year, the gift that lasts a lifetime!
As part of everyone’s daily routine we ought to be looking for those little wins we often overlook, those moments of clarity and those little things that make us smile. They help diminish the stuff that didn’t work out well, those moments when you just couldn’t think and when all the negatives that inhabit every life depress you.
It’s not as hard as it would seem: like hitting the waste basket on the first try or noticing sparrows at the bird feeder.
I love this, David! In the “count to five” technique in Happiness as a Second Language, the idea is to find five things that are making you happy at that moment, no matter how small. Several of my lists include things like: I’m happy the air conditioner is on; I’m happy we have eggs in the house; I’m happy these old jeans I just found still fit.
They are silly little things, but reminding yourself to be happy about them has a cumulative effect on brain activity with amazing long-term results.
One of those doors is disability and chronic illness.
While I wouldn’t wish them on anyone, people adapt to challenges. Sometimes it makes them grow up and decide to do what they want to do if they still can – now, instead of a vague ‘later.’