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Do Happy: Stop Explaining
You feel frustrated about your progress toward your goals, so you tell your friends about the odds stacked against you. You don’t want them to think you’re a failure. You feel unusually anxious before a performance evaluation so you tell your coworker about everything that’s riding on this promotion. You don’t want her to think […]
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Do Happy: Forget Yourself
“When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.” ~Sue Patton Theole Whether you’re talking to your mother or your coworker, odds are you don’t always give your complete attention without formulating thoughts of your own. Even the most Zen person sometimes waits to talk instead of really listening. It happens […]
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Do Happy: Let Go
“Some people think it’s holding on that makes one strong—sometimes it’s letting go.” ~Unknown Maybe your life doesn’t look like you want it, but you’re not sure how to change it, or even if you can—so you feel hopeless, frustrated, and even a little bitter. Or maybe someone hurt you so deeply you don’t know […]
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Do Happy: Connect Without Complaining
“Instead of complaining the rose bush is full of thorns, be happy the thorn bush has roses.”~Proverb Complaining can be a bonding experience. You meet up with your friends after work, and immediately start rehashing frustrations with your boss. You have dinner with your siblings and commiserate about confrontations with your black-sheep uncle. Or you […]
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Do Happy: Look Longer
“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for a minute?” ~Henry David Thoreau You’re riding on the subway, immersed in a book. You’re running in the park, lost in your iPod. You’re waiting in line at Starbucks, fixated on the menu. Sometimes we act like we’re completely alone, even […]