Happiness for Beginners

by Katherine Center

happy people are more likely to register joy than unhappy people. So if you take two people who have experienced a day of, say, fifty percent good things and fifty percent bad things, an unhappy person would remember more of the bad.”

“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.”

“The things you think about determine the things you think about”—meaning the more you focus on something, the more likely your brain is to focus on it.

The most important thing to remember is that getting what you want doesn’t make you happy.” “It doesn’t?” I asked. “Not for long. Happiness is more about appreciation than acquisition.”

“I gave you Jake because you’re headstrong and accident prone, and he’s our medic and I trust him to patch you up. I gave you Jake because you’re the best map reader we’ve got, and he’s damn near blind. And I gave you Jake because you absolutely never believe in yourself—and he finds a way to believe in you every damn day.”

Some kisses are dares—and some are just truth.

Thank you for this world of miracles. We will try to be more grateful. And less ridiculous.”

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. I finally got that if you were always in a state of longing you could never truly get satisfied,

“He messed with my head.” “And your heart, it sounds like.” “That, too.” “Good thing the heart is so resilient.”

“Love is always a disaster, darling. That’s what makes it fun.”

“Why didn’t you ever point this out before?” She shook her head. “You can’t tell people their lives.” I shut my eyes. “Because they have to figure it out themselves.” “That’s right,” GiGi said. “And now you have.”

“That’s right, sweet girl. Be brave. Nothing good ever came from cowering.”

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.

Maybe wanting something can’t be the same as having it. And maybe getting what you want doesn’t make you happy.