Seven Keys of Happiness #3

by Kim Olver

The first two Keys of Happiness are: self-worth and gratitude. The third key is positive life framing.

3. Positive Life Framing

The
third key to happiness is positive life framing. There are three ways
to view any piece of information—positively, negatively or neutrally.
Viewing information as neutral is the best way to go through life. It
allows us to accept everything as it comes and to stop resisting what
actually is in any given moment. However, many of us have great
difficulty with that one.

As an incremental
step, it is helpful to find a way to reframe life’s negative events
into positive ones. Even in life’s tragedies, there is a way to find
something positive about the situation. Almost always, in hindsight, we
can see the benefit. The real benefit comes when we are able to see the
benefit as the tragedy unfolds, or at least stay open to the thought
that there is a benefit even if you are unable to see it in that
moment. Just as in physics where there can be no electron without a
proton, so it is with life where there can be no negative event without
a corresponding positive one.

My next post will discuss the 4th Key: Internal locus of control.

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