Uc Science Today

What really makes you happy or sad? According to Psychologist Iris Mauss of the University of California, Berkeley it is not so much about what’s happening to you, but how you perceive the situations you are in. "How you relate to your own emotions, transforms the experiences that you have in some way." Mauss says the right way of thinking is the best way to protect yourself from moodiness, depression and anxiety. "If you accept your negative emotions as just a natural response, you are going to pay less attention to them and so while they exist and happen, they blow over pretty quickly. Another idea is if you accept the negative emotions you have, you basically don’t punish yourself for feeling them and you avoid piling negativity upon negativity." Or if you simply don’t chalk up your misfortunes to “bad luck,” this alone might cheer you up.