Happiness - Cause and Effect


Your reaction to the events around you determines how you feel and how you affect those you come into contact with. Consider the following example:

Jane, a bank executive, got caught in traffic on her way to an important presentation at a board of directors meeting. As a result, she was forty-five minutes late for her presentation. After the meeting Jane was in a really bad mood. Upon returning to her office she discovered that several expected reports were not there.

Jane called Kevin, her administrative assistant, into her office and reprimanded him for not ensuring the reports had arrived on time. Another department was preparing the reports. Kevin had no control over when they would be delivered. Jane was in a foul mood and she didn't want to hear any excuses.

Upset and stressed, Kevin called Donna, the secretary for the department preparing the reports. He started yelling at her that the reports that he had requested had not arrived. Although this was the first Donna had heard of the reports, Kevin didn't care. He was upset and took his anger out on Donna.

By the time she got off the phone with Kevin, Donna was seething. Who did Kevin think he was speaking to her like that? Just then, Ed from the mailroom called Donna to ask how she wanted a package shipped. Donna accused Ed of being an idiot for not knowing the package should be sent overnight because it was so important.

Ed tried to explain there was no way he could have known what she wanted. Donna just slammed the phone down in a huff. Ed was livid. Did Donna think he was a mind reader? Ed was still agitated as he went to the diner for lunch.

The diner was extremely busy. His waitress, Stacey, took longer than usual to take his order. Ed was annoyed with the slow service. He was rude to Stacey and left her a small tip. Stacy was running herself ragged and was offended by Ed's attitude and tip.

The rest of Stacey's shift seemed to drag. When she finally got off work, she was in no mood for any more hassles from anyone. As Stacey walked into her apartment, her five-year-old son, Jimmy, ran excitedly to greet her.

Stacey immediately noticed that Jimmy's pants were filthy. "I just washed those," she yelled. "Can't you keep anything clean?" Jimmy ran up to his room crying. His cat came over to him purring. Jimmy was so upset he kicked the cat.

Wouldn't it have saved a lot of people a lot of grief if Jane had gone directly to Stacey's house and kicked Jimmy's cat?

When you take out your frustrations on others you may be starting a cascading chain reaction. If someone takes out their frustrations on you, break the chain by not taking it out on someone else. When you react negatively to another's behavior you allow yourself to be drawn into their problems. You control your thoughts. If you feel annoyed, wait and think before speaking or acting.

Keep things in perspective. Let stress roll off you without grabbing hold of and internalizing it. Don't kick the cat.

copyright 2005 Bryan Golden

Bryan Golden is a self-development and motivational expert, author, and adjunct professor. He is the author of "Dare to Live Without Limits," and writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column. For more information please visit: http://www.daretolivewithoutlimits.com or http://www.bryangolden.com


MORE RESOURCES:

IBTimes.co.uk

The New Economics of Happiness
The Atlantic
But do they know how to measure happiness? If they did, what would we even do with the results? Each year, the OECD produces the Better Life Index, a comprehensive report on the well-being of advanced countries based on a long list of factors, ...
Korea 24th happiest nation: OECDKorea Times
Global Economic Group OECD: Americans are Wealthiest, But Not HappiestMoneynews
Top Ten Happiest Countries in the World in 2012 [SLIDESHOW]IBTimes.co.uk
24/7 Wall St. -The Guardian (blog) -The West Australian
all 1,089 news articles »


AARP News (blog)

Happiness: Reversing the Formula
Huffington Post
We grow up being taught to believe external things will bring happiness. Many of us learn to equate our own happiness with the level of success we achieve and the external things that come with the achievement. If we meet the right person, ...
What's Your Happiness Formula?AARP News (blog)

all 2 news articles »


Daily Mail

Happiness is — being a woman!
Times of India
An international study has suggested that women spend less time in office, are better educated, live longer and are generally happier than their male colleagues. Across the world's most advanced countries men work longer hours and earn higher wages but ...
Women are happier, better educated and less stressed than overworked men ...Daily Mail

all 7 news articles »


Home of love, happiness and life
Spartanburg Herald Journal
“I wanted my house to be warmed by love, lighted by happiness and always full of life,” says the Spartanburg native, owner of Travel Connections, a corporate travel management company. Her beautiful, stately brick Southern Colonial at the Carolina ...



A Sea of 'Happiness' Without Memory
Huffington Post (blog)
With the advent of positive psychology, there has been a vast emphasis on finding happiness, and we might say selling it, and for a pittance at that. All we have to do, it seems, is buy into the idea that unhappiness -- which we are brought to feel is ...



Our say: The joys (or not!) of parenting
San Jose Mercury News
In fact, parents are generally happier and find more meaning in life than people who don't have children. That's according to a three-part study released last week by a team of researchers from UC Riverside, the University of British Columbia and ...
Parents are happier peopleiAfrica.com

all 6 news articles »


CareerBliss Announces the Ten Happiest Companies for Veterans for 2012
MarketWatch (press release)
IRVINE, Calif., May 22, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- CareerBliss, the leading online career community empowering people to find happier jobs with 3 million open jobs and salary info on CareerBliss.com, announces new data highlighting The 10 Happiest ...
Orlando No. 6 happiest city for job-seeking college gradsBizjournals.com

all 6 news articles »


Chan Luu says happiness is key to beautiful jewelry
Houston Chronicle
I really believe your happiness is in your own hands. If I'm not happy, I exude nothing but toxic energy around me. People don't like it, and my jewelry might look nasty. I want my jewelry to be pretty and my customers to love it.

and more »


What's the Most Popular Resolution for Happiness?
Huffington Post (blog)
When people tell me they've done their own happiness projects, I always ask, "What resolutions did you try? What worked for you?" One answer comes up more than any other. I'm not saying that this is the most significant thing you could do to boost your ...



The Philadelphia Happiness Project: 12 Ways to Overcome City-Induced Angst
Philadelphia Magazine (blog)
Not 30 seconds before Spitgate, I had been perfectly content, sitting in my seat reading that book, The Happiness Project. Do you know it? (Evidently, it's been on the New York Times bestseller list for roughly a jillion weeks.) I'm not very far in, ...


Google News

Acne - Advertising - Aerobics & Cardio - Affiliate Revenue - Alternative - Attraction - Auction - Audio Streaming - Aviation - Babies & Toddlers - Beauty - Blogging & RSS - Book Marketing - Book Reviews - Branding - Breast Cancer - Broadband Internet - Muscle Building - Careers & Employment - Coaching - Coffee - College & University - Cooking Tips - Copywriting - Crafts & Hobbies - Creativity - Credit - Cruising & Sailing - Currency Trading - Customer Service - Data Recovery - Dating - Debt Consolidation - Debt Relief - Depression - Diabetes - Divorce - Domain Names - E-books - Ecommerce - Elder Care - Email Marketing - Entrepreneurialism - Ethics - Exercise - Ezine Marketing - Ezine Publishing - Fashion & Style - Fishing - Fitness Equipment - Forums - Games - Goal Setting - Golf - Grief Loss - Hair Loss - Happiness - Hardware - Holidays - Home Improvement - Home Security - Humanities - Humor - Innovation - Inspirational - Insurance - Interior Decorating - Internet Marketing - Investing - Landscaping & Gardening - Language - Leadership - Leases & Leasing - Loans - Lung, Mesothelioma & Asbestos - Management - Marketing - Marriage & Wedding - Meditation - Mobile & Cell Phone - Mortgage & Refinancing - Motivation - Motorcycles - Music - Negotiation - Network Marketing - Networking - Nutrition - Organizing - Outdoors - Parenting - Personal Finance - Personal Tech - Pets - Philosophy - Photography - Poetry - Politics - Positive Attitude - PPC Advertising - Press Release - Pregnancy - Presentation - Psychology - Public Speaking - Real Estate - Recipes - Relationships - Sales - Sales Management - Sales & Teleselling - Sales Training - Satellite TV - Science - Security - SEO - Site Promotion - Small Business - Software - Spam Blocker - Spirituality - Stocks & Mutual Funds - Strategic Planning - Stress Management - Structured Settlements - Success - Supplements - Taxes - Team Building - Time Management - Top7-Or-10-Tips - Traffic Building - Vacation Rentals - Video Conferencing - Video Streaming - VOIP - Wealth Building - Web Design - Web Development - Web Hosting - Weight Loss - Wine & Spirits - Writing - Writing Articles - Yoga

Top
Main Home Email Category Home