22 Things Happy People Do Differently [really?]

[DanaC]

I'd go along with many of those. I practice quite a few.

One of the really big ones for me is not holding grudges. The last time I allowed myself to get drawn into holding a grudge against someone and basically existing in a state of enmity with them was a few years ago, when I was heavily involved in the local labour party. I remember making a conscious decision to just drop all enmity and be civil to people I had to work alongside. The being civil part was easy, but dropping the underlying enmity was less so.

That one caught me off balance because it began as a factional 'team' kind of thing and then morphed into something personal.

Other than that, I'd say it's a good long while since I allowed real grudges any head space. Likewise revenge fantasies. My mind wandering briefly down such a path is fine, but getting caught up with such deeply negative emotion is just not helpful.

I'm not sure I agree with dreaming big as a factor. For a start it seems to equate 'success' (by whose terms I'm not sure) with happiness. There are many people out there who have dreamt big and 'succeeded' and yet are not happy. Then again if your dream, your whole life, was to find a man who loves you and bring up two happy children and you achieve that dream, why would you be unhappy?