Dr. Ellen Langer

So you start off, oh my God, it's going to happen, realizing maybe it won't happen.

But then the more interesting part for me is to say to yourself, let's assume it does happen.

How might that actually be a good thing?

And so even with that fire I mentioned, the negative effects of it are totally gone.

And yet every single Christmas, it brings me joy to reflect on it.

So ask yourself, is it a tragedy or an inconvenience?

We can't predict what's going to happen.

But once we recognize that whatever happens, we get to determine how we respond to it.

So it doesn't matter what's going to happen.

You're not a victim of these happenings.

The world teaches people that life is stressful.

Work is stressful.

When you're young, school is stressful.

I think that's a major mistake.

Work shouldn't be stressful.

So I talk in the book, and you might recall, about better than better.

You know, that lots of my colleagues and lots of the world, when they're experiencing something bad, find a solution that is better.

But they don't come close to the better than better way of living, you know, so that we have stress is bad.

So work, let's say, is stressful.

So then people are told to seek work life balance.