Happiness is a Way of Traveling, Not a Destination

Happiness is a Way of Traveling, Not a Destination By Dr. Tony Alessandra The only advantage of being a pessimist is that all your surprises are pleasant. But that's pretty small change compared to the big payoff that comes from projecting positive expectations. Much of our happiness or unhappiness is caused, of course, not by what happens, but how we look at what happens. In other words, by our thinking habits. And habits can be changed. George Walther, in his book Power Talking, shows how you can foster the mind-set that interprets setbacks as positive opportunities. He believes this is a skill that you can develop-one word, one phrase, one sentence at a time. For starters, purge the words "I failed ..." from your vocabulary, Walther urges. Replace them with "I learned ..." to help your mind focus on the lessons involved. Similarly, you might want to get in the habit of using "challenge" when others would say "problem," "I'll be glad to" instead of "I'll have to," and "I'm getting better at ..." rather than "I'm no good at ..." The subliminal effect of changing even a few words, Walther says, can prompt your mind to come up with creative solutions rather than dreading or fleeing the problem.