Get the Happiness Habit

suddenly learned you’re going to die today.

And that’s interesting, because what I’ve found with my own clients is that when they write things down on paper, they seem to remember strategies better and really take them on board.

What is achievable and desirable is a feeling of quiet optimism and contentment and well-being. I often say to my own patients that it’s as simple as being able to wake up in the morning and to say, with confidence: ‘I’m OK.’ People are not able to do that if they are unhappy or lacking in appropriate regard for themselves – or if their expectations are unrealistic.

So, let’s not pursue perfection. Or try to match impossible expectations. Let’s keep things real.

But anyone who seeks perfection is bound to fail. Life isn’t perfect. And yet people hanker after it.

And I have frequently seen people in healthy, sustaining relationships who have been convinced that they must find something better because these romances are not ‘perfect’.

happy depends not only on how well things are going overall, but whether they are going better than expected.

researchers at University College London

We, on the other hand, live in stimulating times. And through the explosion of media outlets we are much more aware than previous generations of commercial possibilities and what other people own and do.

Basically, we all want happiness for ourselves and for those we love.