Whatcha thinkin’?

“It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”    Dale Carnegie

I’ve been holding on to this quote for a while.  I can’t remember if I was happy or unhappy when I first read it.  Chances are pretty good that it was the latter because, unfortunately, I let my brain go there too much.  And, that’s the problem – we “let” our minds go there.

Having  a decent number of years behind me, I had quite the collection of experiences, life events, successes, failures, and memories to reflect upon after reading this quote.  In “good times” – financially, relationally, occupationally, spiritually, physically – or in “bad times,” as they would have been defined at the time, it really did depend on where my thoughts led me.  It seems that, in some cases, when things were “at their worst,” thoughts had to go to happy places just to get through the situation at hand.  When things were going well, maybe there was a fear that it wouldn’t last.  Of course, that’s probably my Most Pessimistic of the Class of 1980 self talking.

I often joke about that esteemed designation, but it’s a lot easier dealing with challenges if you don’t set yourself up for disappointment.   The higher you set your hopes, the farther and harder they seem to fall.  At one point in my life, I considered myself a recovering pessimist.  Yet, the more I think about it, I don’t think I was ever truly a pessimist.  I think I was always a realist.  The less you expect life to hand you, the easier it is to collect little moments of happiness.  The more you open yourself to little moments of happiness, the more you can be satisfied with your life.

I’m going to think about that.