Happiness is a choice
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
September 1, 2015 10:35am CST
Barry Neil Kaufman has written a book called "Happiness is a choice" and in his book he shares a number of stories, but there is one story that I especially remember: A man talked to his daughter. His daughter placed her face close to his face and said "This would make a great picture" and then she added "but it would be a better picture if it was mom's face and mine" The man got very hurt because he found himself ugly and he thought that his daughter was refering to his appearance. He asked his daughter why she said that and she replied: "Because then you would be taking the picture and you take better pictures than mom"
I like the story because it shows how easy it is to misunderstand the things that happen. We all interpret things based on our thoughts. The man in the story immediately thought that his daughter's comment was caused by his appearance, but he was wrong. When we get hurt or feel rejected it sometimes happens because of the way that we interpret things and not because the other person actually wanted to hurt us.
What do you think about the story?
5 people like this
3 responses
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
1 Sep 15
I think people often misunderstand and misinterpret what they hear from others. Yet, it's an individual thing. Some people will never assume that someone is being unkind to them, some people will always feel that others don't like them, etc. It's a matter of self-esteem to some extent.
2 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
2 Sep 15
It depends on your thoughts and self-esteem as well. If you meet a friend who doesn't greet you some people would think: "Why doesn't she like me anymore, what I have done wrong?" and some people would think: "She probably had a bad day" The same thing happens in both cases, but people don't interpret it the same way,
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
1 Sep 15
Definitely true and very much related to many many people.
We are all individuals and have our own thoughts. The more we are occupied by our own thoughts, we cannot see the vision or the thought of the other person involved. In this case/story, the man already seems to be feeling low about his appearance. And this is why when the girl mentioned the mom's face, his brain immediately connected to his problem. And he got it all wrong.
To be able to understand the perception of the other person, I think you should have an open mind and a stress free life. 
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
2 Sep 15
I think that many of us do the same thing as the man in the story. We misunderstand other people and sometimes we get hurt because of the way that we interpret the things we hear. Sometimes we assume that other people think and feel the same way as us, but that is not always the case. I agree with your last sentence. We need an open mind of understand the perception of other people.
1 person likes this
@else34 (13517)
• New Delhi, India
2 Sep 15
Absolutely right,@Porcospino.Happiness is a choice.George Bernard Shaw has put it so simply somewhere,'If you want to be happy,be.'
