What occurs doesn’t matter all that a lot

I’ve a principle in regards to the occasions that make up our lives: what occurs doesn’t matter as a lot as we predict. On the subject of our happiness and general life satisfaction, what’s of larger significance is how we relate to what occurs.

Take, for instance, when expectations skew how we understand our days and our life. When issues go as anticipated, we really feel good and comfy. When issues exceed expectations, we’re unexpectedly delighted (and our mind rewards us on a chemical stage, as I write in The best way to Calm Your Thoughts). Likewise, when one thing doesn’t meet our expectations, it could possibly really feel like a letdown.

By default, practically all our expectations are fallacious. This could not come as a shock: it’s unattainable to foretell the longer term and the way occasions will unfold.

When you concentrate on it, which means issues not often go “proper” or “fallacious.” They only go otherwise than anticipated. These occasions nonetheless have an effect on our life in constructive and destructive methods. However so does how we relate to these experiences.

(Expectations are nowhere close to the one factor that skew our notion of actuality. We every have numerous biases, inaccurate psychological fashions, and self-talk that affect how we see the world.)

Right here’s an thought I’ve been occupied with recently. The issues we expertise contribute to our general happiness and life satisfaction. However how we relate these occasions is vital, too. So how a lot does every issue matter?

On the subject of happiness and satisfaction, we are likely to suppose that the experiences that comprise our life matter extra:

In apply, although, how we understand our state of affairs can basically shift our happiness and satisfaction. In my view, the ratio appears extra like this:

I personally suppose that how we relate to our life issues greater than what we expertise at face worth. Happiness, satisfaction, and even calm come extra from how we select to expertise and reply to the occasions in our lives.

The underside line is that this: on the subject of dwelling life, we in all probability focus an excessive amount of on how we are able to change our life for the higher. It’s important that we additionally change our mindset round how we relate to life, too.