
Take Back Control of Your Fate
In The Book of Joy, the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu poke fun at our tendency to create suffering for ourselves. "Why be unhappy about something if it can be remedied (you have power to change it)? "And what is the use of being unhappy if it cannot be remedied (it's not in your power to change)? When people and situations show up in life in ways we don't want or expect, we can forgive (the person or the situation) by accepting that we don't have control over what others think

"Only If" - Stop Deferring Your Happiness
In the book Shantaram, one of the characters defines suffering as "being hungry for anything." When we expect certain outcomes, our happiness depends on it and we are only happy if things go our way. Sometimes we find ourselves basing our happiness on future outcomes. For example we say "I will be happy when <xyz> happens." Many agree that this specified future accomplishment is a moving finish line and when that "thing" is attained, there will always be something else - som