Happiness for Beginners

by Katherine Center

“The more you register good things,” she went on, “the more you will think about and remember good things. And since all you really have left of the past is what you remember—” “It changes the story of your life.”

Every night, you write down three good things that happened to you that day.”

The most important thing to remember is that getting what you want doesn’t make you happy.”

Happiness is more about appreciation than acquisition.”

“It’s sadness that gives happiness its meaning.”

I had finally come to understand that not getting what you want is actually the trick to it all. Because not getting what you want forces you to appreciate what you already have.

But the things we remember are what we hold on to, and what we hold on to becomes the story of our lives. We only get one story. And I am determined to make mine a good one.