"You’re a happy man, Ted!" I told my friend.

"It’s too expensive to be unhappy," he replied. "I used to carry the burden of the world myself, until I realised that it was costing me my health and my family. Now I do something about it in seven ways:

1. I choose to harbour ideas of happiness and to believe that with God all things are possible.

2. I look for and find the good in situations and in people. By looking through troubles, I see solutions. I listen to people and I can understand their ways. I turn problems inside out and the answers reveal themselves.

3. I give my undivided attention to each task or person at hand without thought of anything else. I have discovered that I can finish a prodigious amount of work this way without strain.

4. I have become a thankful person. There are hundreds of things to be grateful for everyday. Thanksgiving has enabled blessings to flow miraculously in my life.

5. Daily, I deliberately go out of my way to please someone. Love is my aim. I plan and carry out surprises. These have multiplied my joys.

6. I live in a state of expectancy. I believe miracles are happening in my life and in the world today. I know that no matter how difficult a problem may appear to be, some great good will emerge from it. And it does.

7. Finally, I have learned to accept people as they are. I see them growing in understanding, living to the best of their ability. I believe each one is being guided by God, just as I am.