If one is to find happiness, it is important to be open to the idea of “change”. That is, be open to the idea of changing one’s way of thinking. Without change, one would simply repeat the same negative ways of thinking and not find happiness.
In some sense, there is a “recipe” for happiness, and it’s important to keep experimenting with the recipe till one discovers the one that works. This is not too different to recipes concerning food.
Let’s imagine that one decides to bake a cake. One finds a recipe that, among other things, calls for eight spoons of sugar.
One follows the recipe precisely, and the cake comes out of the oven looking lovely. But soon, when one takes a bite, one realises that the cake is too sweet for one’s liking.
If one decides to bake the same cake again, how much sugar should one use this time? Should one use the same amount of sugar one used last time, or should one reduce the amount of sugar? Since the cake was too sweet last time, reducing the amount of sugar used when making it this time would be sensible. After all, if one made the cake using the same amount of sugar as last time, it would be too sweet again. In other words, the cake recipe needs to be adjusted to improve the cake’s taste.
The same concept applies to how one thinks. Suppose one thinks in a certain way that brings unhappiness; if one keeps thinking that same way, the unhappiness will continue. For happiness, one must work on changing one’s current mental recipe.
One might wonder if it’s possible to change how one thinks. In neuroscience, it’s generally accepted that one’s nervous system can undergo “neuroplasticity.” Neuroplasticity is the brain’s remarkable ability to reorganise itself to form new connections and pathways, resulting in one’s thinking in different ways. So each time one changes how one thinks, one’s brain undergoes neuroplasticity.
Change requires effort, but it is also associated with potential rewards. Changes don’t always have to be big. One can also make small changes that eventually add up to big changes.
A key aspect of Happy Thinking is the concept of “experiments”. I am, of course, not talking about using test tubes and chemicals to cause explosions in one’s kitchen! Instead, it’s about embracing mental experiments to see which changes work and which do not.
This website offers many simple psychological methods to help one change one’s thinking. One can experiment with the methods to see if they are helpful. After some experimentation, I am sure one will find a suitable recipe for happiness.