Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
~Dalai Lama
Last year I began the Proof Positive blog here at Psych Central. The goal was to review the best research in positive psychology and offer applications from this research for everyday use. All of the techniques for promoting wellbeing and happiness were drawn from the research literature, and I experimented with each of them. Some had more power that others, and some were more difficult to maintain. But overall there was a clear, strong, positive shift not only in my way of thinking, but also in the degree of positive experiences noted, encountered, and received.
This is not to say that the miserable things that come with being human stopped happening, or the sorrows and grief from losses weren’t there; they certainly were. But in spite of these not-so-happy events a type of resilience emerged that allowed for an honest experience of the sufferings without staying glued to them.