How Can I Be Happy: Learn Positive Psychology

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The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.

William Penn

He had every reason to complain

 Recently, I was in my office and thinking about some of the things that weren’t going as well as I had planned.

You know, the typical business problems – results not happening as fast as I had expected. And I’ll confess that I’d been doing a little complaining about it.

Then Pedro walked in. Pedro is in his early 20s and came to this country about six years ago from Honduras. He works for a company that cleans homes and offices. You talk about a positive attitude! Pedro is one of the most positive people I’ve ever met – always smiling and upbeat.

On this day, however, I asked Pedro about Hurricane Mitch and its impact on his homeland. The smile quickly left his face. He told me of the devastation the hurricane had caused. Thousands of people had died. More than a million people were left homeless. Pedro said that his father, mother and brother still lived in Honduras, and he had no idea if they were dead or alive.

He had no way to contact them – all the phone lines in that area had been destroyed. Pedro said he thought about his family every day. Can you imagine the agony of not even knowing if your family is still alive?

Then Pedro went on to tell me about all the things he was doing to help the people in Honduras. He was collecting money, clothing, and other necessities. He was actively working with the relief organizations. Instead of just griping about the problem, he was doing whatever he could do to ease their pain. After speaking with Pedro, I began to realize just how inconsequential my own problems were… and how fortunate I am! You better believe I stopped complaining. I faced the rest of the day with renewed energy and a much better attitude. By the way, several weeks later I saw Pedro again. And yes, he had his usual winning smile and his great attitude. The good news is that his family members are all alive.

The bad news is that they lost everything in the flood and are now living in a shelter. Clean water is very scarce. Disease is rampant. I can’t even fathom what it’s like to lose everything you own and have to start over from scratch, especially under these difficult conditions. Can you?

There’s no doubt about it. Pedro has every reason to whine about his family’s bad luck. But he doesn’t. He realizes that complaining would be a terrible waste of his time and energy. Thank you, Pedro for reminding all of us that complaining is not the answer to our challenges in life.