Made-up Reality

He had always believed, after all, that happiness was simply a matter of choice. You could either wallow in regret, even drown in it, or you could choose not to. But he had underestimated the power of habit. Because once you'd started wallowing, pretty soon that's all you were fit for. You grew fins and webbed feet so you could wallow even better. Hell, maybe you even got to enjoy it a little. And then when you thought that was enough and it was time to haul yourself out and go walking on dry land again, you found you couldn't. You had evolved into some wretched swamp-dwelling creature that had forgotten how to do it.

- Nicholas Evans

The Smoke Jumper, pg. 387.

Of course it works the other way round too. Make a habit of happiness. It's rarely ever what life gives to you that makes you happy or unhappy. That's just an excuse to be that way. Sounds too far-fetched? Isn't really. I remember this time I told Taz that the mind is a very powerful thing. How, she asked me. Well, I struggled to explain, it's like this... whatever you think, is. She didn't get it. I started gathering an explanation out of the drizzle around us. You see, I said, this rain falling on us now... it's cold, right? She nodded. But it doesn't affect you if you don't let it, I continued. You can feel cold and shiver like you're doing right now, or you can put mind over matter and feel the warmth if you think about it. She frowned. Close your eyes, I said, imagine you're warm. Feel you're warm. Let the liquid warmth run in your veins. Feel it minutely... give yourself up to it. Believe it, and it is. She tried. She really did for a couple of minutes. Na-uh, I still feel cold, she said. I wished I had a sweater.

Maybe I'm no good with explanations. The theory still stands though.