School lunches were a real lottery at my school.

You walked down the line, and the lunch lady would heap whatever portions she deemed appropriate on your plate. Some of the lunch ladies were generous, some were stingy. Some ladles were heaping, others were practically empty.

It seems to me that most people think of happiness the same way.

You just go through life, and sometimes good things happen that make you happy, and sometimes bad things happen that make you sad.

But that’s not how it works at all.

Here’s the truth.

You get to decide how to feel. Seriously.

I know because I’ve made the decision to be happy, and now I’m happy, even in situations that used to make me unhappy.

Early on I had some tricks for this (the 10-year trick and the worst case scenario trick). But now I’m just happy all the time.

You can do the same thing, because no one else can control how you feel, like they’re dumping big spoonfuls or little spoonfuls of happiness on your plate.

You are the happiness lunch lady. Give yourself a heaping spoonful.