“I could see that judging situations — and people — as good or bad, right, wrong, fast, or slow was not useful. I had heard the weatherman on the radio refer to this tendency as the “Goldilocks syndrome.” He remarked that people who lived in the Midwest complained a lot about the weather. Because of the extremes in temperature (from 30 below in the winter to 100 degrees in the summer), the conditions are always “too hot” or “too cold.”  The weather is hardly ever “just right.”

From the book, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey.

I wish the weather outside was 75 degrees and sunny. But the fact is the temperature is 50 degrees and cloudy.  No amount of wishing on my part is going to change that. It is what it is — and it ain’t what it ain’t.                                                                                                   

The same goes for expecting others to behave a certain way and then being disappointed or upset when they don’t. I have noticed that the happiest, most successful people I know are also the most realistic. They tend to see situations for what they are and react accordingly.  Instead of wasting their time complaining about the situations (or people) that are beyond their control, they focus on doing what they need to do to achieve their goals.  Maybe these people are on to something.

This week be happier and more successful by focusing more of your energy on what matters and less on what doesn’t.