I really like Happiness = Reality - Expectations. Advocating for low expectations is usually criticized as laziness when targeted at oneself or pessimism when

I really like Happiness = Reality - Expectations. Advocating for low expectations is usually criticized as laziness when targeted at oneself or pessimism when targeted at others. But I think that criticism happens when we conflate expectations and aspirations, when we set our target as our baseline. On that note, exercising gratitude (counting your blessings) is a wonderful tool for teasing apart expectations and aspirations. Acknowledging that something you have is good enough to make you happy implicitly informs you that expectations have already been exceeded even if you aspire for more.