Nobody likes getting bad news. But sometimes bad news is a relief, because it's not worse news. And bad news gives us an opportunity to count our blessings. Your pre-teen wakes you up in the middle of the night because he's feeling sick, and then vomits. But he made it to the bathroom toilet --… Continue reading The relief of bad news
Category: Human
Gifts
Both giving and receiving gifts are paradoxical activities. On the surface, they're signs of generosity and gratitude. However, forced-gift-giving events (birthdays, Christmas exchanges, house warmings) can be troublesome. When you're the giver, you have the time pressure of buying something before the event combined with showing that you give a damn. That adds a lot… Continue reading Gifts
Joy is not all ponies and rainbows
The last two posts make it sound like choosing happiness is easy - just a matter of programming ourselves to always do so. Let's be realistic, and not buy completely into the hype. First of all, many people are playing life on "hard mode," as they fight chemical dependencies, depression, or other neurological illnesses. Those… Continue reading Joy is not all ponies and rainbows
Using consistency to choose happiness
In my last post's story, the always-happy friend is concerned about self-consistency. That's not surprising, because consistency is a great tool to persuade our brains to behave the way we want to behave. Psychologists will tell you that, as humans, we want to be (and to be seen as) consistent with our self-image. We want… Continue reading Using consistency to choose happiness
Owning happiness
There's a (possibly apocryphal) story that a motivational speaker gave which has stuck with me over the years. It goes something like this: "I have a friend who I think was the happiest guy in the world. When people asked him, 'How are you?' he would respond, 'I'm great! Because I'm happy. I'm the happiest… Continue reading Owning happiness
