Wendelin Van Draanen Quotes

Every day, I look at life different; I don't take things for granted.

Everyday, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

Happiness is the ability to recognize it.

The best thing is looking back and realizing how good life is. If you don't take the time to think about it and analyze it, you'll never realize all the dots that are connected.

Happiness is the bomb cosmetic! When I'm smiling, sometimes I'm giving thanks for all the things I have rather than worrying about the things I don't.

We may have forgotten how to feel. Nobody is teaching us how to live happily ever after, as we've heard in fairy tales.

I think that when you don't look at the good things around you, that you lose sight of all those good things. And you're not going to enjoy your life.

Oddly enough, MS has made my life so much better than it was before. I now appreciate what I have and I am not running around like a rat in a maze.

I acknowledge the privilege of being alive in a human body at this moment, endowed with senses, memories, emotions, thoughts, and the space of mind in its wisdom aspect.

The trick is to be grateful when your mood is high and graceful when it is low.

Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.

I don't think I've had a more miserable life than a lot of people. I think I've had a pretty lucky life.

Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

Children may not notice the positive moments in life unless we point them out to them.

Look for joy in your life; it's not always easy to find.

My worst days are still pretty good days. That's something I might lose in the moment sometimes, but I have a pretty good grasp of it.

So your emotional state really has a lot to do with what you're thinking about and what you're paying attention to.

I do believe that if you haven't learnt about sadness, you cannot appreciate happiness.

Ya know, right now the most important thing in my life is to make sure you understand that, first of all I thank God I'm alive today, and I mean that. I spent too many years of my life thinking that the big party was the whole thing.

What is important is that we stop and realize, 'Okay. This is fine. I can enjoy that.' But what is really important, what I'm really going to take away with me from this life, is my connection with other people.

Ever since I was a kid, I've always thought it very important to be happy inside. There's a lot of bad things happening in the world, but it's important to try to stay happy and appreciate what you've got, and don't look externally for the happiness.

Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention.

Emotions are products of our mind, and we can actually train ourselves to choose whether we banish or embrace them.

I guess I don't think there's any reason to feel guilty about having joy in your life, regardless of how bad things are in the world.

The secret to life is finding joy in ordinary things. I'm interested in happiness.