Happiness - hopeful thinking

We often focus on the negative without even noticing: replaying what has gone wrong, predicting what will go wrong and paying attention to what is going wrong. Below is an exercise in thinking about what could possibly go right and it has been shown to promote happiness (Lyubomirsky).

Take 20 to 30 minutes to think about your best possible self. This means that you imagine yourself in the future after everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have worked hard and succeeded at accomplishing all of your life goals. Think of this as the realisation of your life dreams and your own best potentials. Now describe in writing what you imagine. Repeat this at least four times.

To read more about Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky's work on happiness see http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~sonja

Listen to a happiness song based on Sonja Lyubormirsky's book 'The how of happiness' . See http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~sonja/song.html