Attitude

One of the things I really like about the prism metaphor is the idea that there is not one pure color, but many - that there are many dimensions to each situation, or many sides to each story. I'm realistic enough to know that some things just suck not matter what, but I also believe you can decide how much of your energy to devote to each of the various dimensions. You can obsess about the negative ones in a destructive, self-defeating manner or try to enjoy the positives. You can't always control what happens, but you can control your reaction to it. That doesn't mean you repress or deny so called negative emotions like anger, but you don't have to get stuck in them either.

To Find Happiness, Try These Exercises

Psychological research shows that simple mental games can help people be happier.

As a motivational speaker and executive coach, Caroline Adams Miller knows a few things about using mental exercises to achieve goals.

But last year, one exercise she was asked to try took her by surprise.

Every night, she was to think of three good things that happened that day and analyze why they occurred. That was supposed to increase her overall happiness.

“I thought it was too simple to be effective,” said Miller, 44, of Bethesda, Md. “I went to Harvard. I’m used to things being complicated.”

Miller was assigned the task as homework in a master’s degree program. But as a chronic worrier, she knew she could use the kind of boost the exercise was supposed to deliver.

She got it.

“The quality of my dreams has changed, I never have trouble falling asleep and I do feel happier,” she said.

Results may vary, but the exercise is one of several that have shown preliminary promise in recent research into how people can make themselves happier — not just for a day or two, but long-term. . . .