When we fail to attain a desired outcome, we often extrapolate from that experience the belief that we have no control over our lives or over certain parts of it. Such thinking leads to despair.
In Aristotle’s words, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Leonardo da Vinci pointed out that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Choice is creation. To choose is to create. Through my choices I create my reality. At every moment in my life I have a choice. Moments add up to a lifetime; choices add up to a life. What kind of life do I want for myself? What choices will create this kind of life?
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. – Albert Einstein.
Such attachment to past failures has been described by Martin Seligman as “learned helplessness.
The all-or-nothing mind-set leads Perfectionists to transform every setback they encounter into a catastrophe, an assault on their very worth as human beings. Their sense of self inevitably suffers as their faultfinding turns inward.
Things do not necessarily happen for the best, but I can choose to make the best of things that happen.
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. –.
Happy people live secure in the knowledge that the activities that bring them enjoyment in the present will also lead to a fulfilling future.
The truth knocks on the door and you say, “Go away, I’m looking for the truth” and so it goes away. – Robert M. Pirsig.
The pain associated with the fear of failure is often stronger than the pain of the failure itself.
The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. – George Eliot.
The most precious things in life are not those you get for money. – Albert Einstein.
The choice is a simple one: Learn to fail, or fail to learn.
When the question is “Why do you want to be happy?” the answer is simple and definitive. We pursue happiness because it is in our nature to do so. When the answer to a question is “Because it will make me happy,” nothing can challenge the validity and finality of the answer. Happiness is the highest on the hierarchy of goals, the end toward which all other ends lead.
I can go through life as a victim, blaming others for my misfortunes, and experiencing frustration over my condition. Or I can choose to be an active agent and do what I can do to bring about a positive change in my life.
All of us, regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in, can make a conscious effort to search for possibilities around and within ourselves.
Happiness grows less from the passive experience of desirable circumstances than from involvement in valued activities and progress toward one’s goals. –.
Time-use may be the determinant of well-being that is the most susceptible to improvement.