100 Simple Secrets of the Best Half of Life
What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It
Chapter OneHappiness Is Not an Accident
We have strategies for most things in our lives -- from work, to
games, to how to get home from town two minutes faster. But we
leave some of the most important parts of our lives, like our happiness,
to chance. Happiness is not like height; you don't just get a
certain amount and then have to live with it. Happiness can be
improved -- if you know what you are doing and what you are not
doing, and you care to change.
For Patrick, it started with a request from a neighbor. The
neighbor had played the part of Santa Claus for several years, creating
a tradition of a visit from Santa to all the children in the
neighborhood. But one year, Santa had a cold and asked whether
Patrick could take over for him that day.
Patrick donned the suit and passed out candy canes and good
wishes to all the neighborhood children, calling them each by
name and convincing them he was for real. "When I put on the
suit, I actually felt like Santa Claus," Patrick says. "It was a truly
magical feeling."
When the old Santa saw how much Patrick enjoyed the job, he
told P ... read full excerpt from: 100 Simple Secrets of the Best Half of Life ebook
