Half empty

"Is the glass half full or the glass half empty? I would probably say that the glass is 90-95% full all of the time.

We are so ungrateful for the quality of life that we have. There is always something you can look down on and say: "It is so much worse for that guy."

If it's raining outside in London, it's raining bombs in Syria. If you're unable to go out because of the traffic jam, there are people who are unable to go out for safety reasons. Whatever it is that we have in our life today, compare that to 100 years ago. Where life expectancy was much worse, where health was much worse, look at all of the gadgets we have in our life, look at all of the luxuries we have in our life. And yet, we continue to look at what's missing.

And because we are looking for what's missing, we're by definition breaking the Happiness Equation. If you're looking for what's missing, you're going to find it, and accordingly, the events of life are not going to meet your expectations.

Think of it this way, if you look at your life today and I asked you: "what would you change about it?" And I changed it for you, would you be happier?

I always get people who will tell me: "I'm so unhappy about my job." And I go: "okay you're fired!" And they go: "No no no, hold on, I didn't mean that, I don't want to be fired."

If you really start to appreciate what you have in your life, happiness becomes a much easier task to achieve."

~Mo Gawdat Chief Business Officer, Google X