A Short Story: How To Become A Happier Person

Max and Ben are two twin brothers that lead almost identical lives.

Max and Ben have the same job satisfaction, the same income, house, family life, and even similar hobbies.

Both of them are generally happy people, but there is a monumental difference between them still.

Although everything is so similar their attitude towards life sets them apart tremendously.

When Max gets into a fight with his boss or has family troubles, when his hobbies are not going so well or something else is bothering him, he carries it around with him for days.

His head spins various tales of how this could go wrong; he is afraid of the possible future his actions hold and therefore rarely acts.

When something goes wrong he blames himself and it bothers him for days.

Ben, on the other hand, goes into action immediately.

When something bothers him he stops like a deer in the headlights, takes out a notepad and writes down the process by which he will address what bothers him.

Ben tries to act on that immediately, leaving the things that bother him no chance to exist any longer than they must.

And, when he did what he said he would do, he forgets about it and keeps enjoying his life.

If you want to be a happier person you have to be more like Ben.

Do not let the negative things in your life linger without taking any action; they will not go away on their own!

Instead figure out what you will do about it, given your current situation.

Of course, you won’t be able to solve everything in a day, but that’s not the point.

The point is that you take charge in your life and deal with whatever you are being dealt so that you get more of what you do want and less of what you do not.

And when you have done whatever it was you felt you needed to do, it’s time to let go of that problem.

Let go of all of these things in whatever way you can!

You dealt with it. That’s it. The situation has passed, the problem is gone, there is no reason to think about it any longer. Let it go.

If you can change it, there is no need to worry or to be unhappy since the situation can be changed.

Understand that your general state is one of happiness already. When you were a child, with nothing on your mind, you were happy beyond comparison.

But as you grew older your head got more and more clouded and you allowed the world to bring you down.

If you can let them go right away, do so. If you cannot, then do something about it. But it serves you absolutely no purpose to keep carrying things around with you.

Take a breath. Figure out what you need to do to make your life better. And then act.

This is the best thing you can do for your mind and yourself and will bring you not only more peace but also a far happier existence.

Originally published at http://quora.com.