I came across this intriguing article and had to share it with you. At first the notion of "talking to strangers" seems obvious when reading it, but upon further reflection...how often do you really do it?
A Harvard professor says he knows the secret to happiness and is ready to share it with the world.
Unfortunately, nobody believes him.
The secret, according to psychology professor Daniel Gilbert, is to ask a total stranger.
"In some common situations, surprisingly, the best way to know what will make you happy is to find somebody who is already in the situation you're contemplating and see how happy they are," Gilbert told CTV.ca in a recent interview.
"Obviously, you and other people are different but the differences between people seem to be relatively small."
....he said people should trust their own imagination less and trust other people's experiences more.
"Don't fall for the mistaken idea that you are so different from other people that their experience has little to teach you," Gilbert said.
"You and other people have a lot in common."
So, if you want to become a lawyer, stop daydreaming. Instead, go find a lawyer.
"All you have to do is find one person who is a lawyer and you're already going to have more information about what it's like to be one than you could ever generate on your own," Gilbert said.
"That's not just true for being a lawyer, it's also true for moving to Cleveland, eating apple pie, marrying Andrea, and every other thing that you can possibly name."
But what if nobody else has been married to Andrea?
"Well then you're out of luck aren't you?"
This story is so inspiring and what I love about it is that it's simple, yet profoundly moving. I am vowing to try and do some "secret" acts of kindness very soon. With just a little money and some covert ingenuity, you can make someone's day.
