Saturday, January 24, 2015

Happiness project - positive thinking, laughing and giving people a break

I finished reading the book "The Happiness Project".  While reading the book I tried to absorb it better by reading it slowly, taking notes along the way and thinking about what it meant and how I could apply it.

The strategy seemed to work as I have been applying it in small ways.  The other day I was on the tube when some school girls got on the train.  Amongst them there was one girl who was standing next to me.  She opened her bottle of soda and it spilled all over - some drops came on me as well.  She apologized (actually rather just asked if I was okay) and I said I was fine.  Then she had a sip but somehow kept spilling the drink from her bag, again on me as well.  The other girls with her asked her to move to another set of seats with them.   They might have been feeling embarrassed by her although I was trying to not make a scene as I didn't want the girl spilling the drink to feel uncomfortable in front of her friends.

Once they moved, a lady sitting in front of me frowned at them and shook her head at them.  I just started laughing and her frown turned into a smile as well.  On the way home from the tube I was caught myself smiling while thinking about the whole situation.

That's when I realized how powerful the combination of positive thinking, giving people a break was. and laughing was.  I could have been like the lady and could have said something negative to the girl. Instead I laughed at the situation, didn't worry about soda on my new UGG boots and made the other lady smile as well.

Since then I've caught myself thinking negatively about someone and have made a conscious effort not to think negatively or change my thoughts to focus on something positive.  I've also resisted the urge to gossip about dinner guests.  And in those instances I remind myself about this incidence on the train.

I continue to feel good about my reaction to the situation and remember it in a very positive light.  If I had been negative that could have been marked as one of my negative situations on the tube of which I have many.  Maybe I wouldn't have any more negative experiences on the train - it all depends on me how I want to experience those experiences!



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