Week 8

*For explanation of The Happiness Experiment" go HERE .*


This is really really late this week, but better late than never, right? I've been out of town without the internet.So without further delay...


Just to refresh your memory of last weeks secrets:
Be open to new ideas.
Share with others how important they are to you.


And now on to this week's secrets.


Secret #15
If you're not sure, guess positively.


"Unhappy people take a situation in which they are not sure and come to a negative conclusion. For example, if they aren't certain why another person is being nice, they assume that the person must have a hidden selfish agenda. Happy people take that same situation and guess the positive possibility, that is, that the person really is nice."


It is so sad to see in the world today that most people don't believe in genuine kindness. Every thinks that everyone else is out to get whatever they can. People can't just do something nice just to do it anymore. And not only do they think that other people can't do anything nice without gain, they believe that they themselves shouldn't do things for others unless they profit from it. "What has that person ever done for me? They are never nice, why should I be?" Why not? 


"Any situation can be viewed as an act of selfishness, if that's how you want to view it."


That statement is so true. It is all in your perspective. Why be cynical your whole life? Why not just believe that people can be nice just to be nice? It might just rub off and cause you to be nice too. I'm sure we've all heard of Pay It Forward. If we all lived that way, people would have more faith in other people.


"Happy people and unhappy people explain the world differently. When an unhappy person must interpret the world, eight in ten times he or she will see the negative in an event. When a happy person must interpret the world, eight in ten times he or she will see the positive."


Why not see the positive and be happy?


Secret # 16
Believe in yourself.


"Don't write yourself off. If you don't believe in yourself, you won't be able to function."


Wow.
It doesn't get any easier than that. Just believe in yourself. Recently, my sister asked her son what he wanted to be when grows up. His answer: Awesome. 


I think we all have the potential to be awesome when we grow up. We just have to believe that. If we don't believe that we can get out of our dead-end job and do what we've always wanted to then it's almost sure that we won't. When we were thinking about making our photography business our full-time job, we were skeptical. But when events happened that basically forced us to get going with it, we started to believe that it was possible. We had to have immense faith that this is what we were supposed to be doing. We had to believe in our own ability to make it work. No doubts. That belief in ourselves has helped us be what we are today. And it just keeps getting better, because we know it can and will.


"Across all ages and all groups, a solid belief in one's own ability increases life satisfaction by about 30 percent, and makes us happier both in our home lives and in our work lives."


So now that I've been working on this experiment for 2 months, I look back and try to see if it has helped. Or if anything has changed. Am I happier? 


I honestly think that I am. This year has been great so far. So many reasons to be happy. And the thing that I'm starting to realize, is that all those reasons have always been there, I just needed to open my eyes and not take them for granted. The biggest thing this book has done for me so far is help me realize my own worth and potential. 


How is it going for you?