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Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog:
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Be Happy
By Marilyn Iturri
Editor of VeterinaryPracticeNews.com and Veterinary Practice News
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Our Web Exclusive on “Transforming Client Anger” by Katherine Dobbs is getting good responses from readers. Seems like everyone knows an angry client, and probably more than a few of us have even been one in one context or another.
One of the situations Dobbs warns of is that of “emotional contagion” – the phenomenon in which, after listening to someone gripe long enough, we tend to pick up and exhibit that same vibe.
But emotional contagion can apply to positive outlooks as well as negative ones.
Happiness makes the world a better place, and we owe it to each other to be happy, or at least to act like we’re happy. Some thinkers even consider this a moral obligation.
After all, wouldn’t you rather work with happy people than with unhappy people bent on inflicting their problems on you?
Not that it’s easy to be happy. We all have our brooding moments; it’s not a secret that life isn’t fair. But keeping those feelings in check minimizes time spent wallowing in unproductive ways. And it can make for a happier workplace.
The online encyclopedia Wikipedia defines a concept that’s helpful here:
“ ‘Fake it till you make it’ (also called ‘act as if’) is a common catchphrase that means ‘to imitate confidence so that as the confidence produces success, it will generate real confidence.’ The purpose is to avoid getting stuck in a self-fulfilling prophecy related to one’s fear of not being confident, e.g., by thinking, ‘I can’t ask that girl out because she would sense my lack of confidence.’ … "
“The idea is to go through the routines of life as if one were enjoying them, despite the fact that initially it feels forced, and continue doing this until the happiness becomes real.”
Abraham Lincoln is said to have fought clinical depression much of his life. But even he said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
It’s a thought that helps me fake it till I make it.
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