Mo Gawdat: Happiness is a State of Mind
Mo Gawdat - Choose Happiness
Author and Google X Chief Business Officer Mo Gawdat delivers an important message about gratitude, and reminds us that happiness is not about what you have, but how you think.
Transcript:
"I lost my son all of a sudden. From having a happy holiday together to losing him was four hours. The question that hit me at the time was, what can I do now to bring him back? Nothing I could have ever done, including locking myself in a room and crying for the rest of my life, could bring him back. I can either choose to suffer or I can choose to sort of accept life as harsh as it has become and try to make it slightly better than it is today ... Make it slightly better tomorrow.
"In the modern world, we mix two states. One of them is happiness and the other is fun. Happiness is that peaceful contentment feeling of, I like the world as it is right now. Fun is the modern world's replacement of happiness. When I am unable to reach that state of happiness, what I do is I go out on the weekend and I go to a party and boom, boom, boom, boom, and my brain stops thinking. As long as it stops thinking, I think I feel happy.
"Happiness is not about what the world gives you, how much water is in this glass. Happiness is about what you think about what the world gives you. If you think about it properly, you will always see there is something to be grateful and something to be happy about. Can you imagine a world where 10 million people are happier? It wouldn't bring Ali back but it would be slightly better than the day he left."
