The Happiness Lab Delegate's Guide Chapter 6 — Coping Strategies | Page 2

06 When life doesn’t go to plan A 64 s M. Scott Peck noted in his book Th e Road Less Travelled, life is diffi cult. At some point or another almost everyone goes through suff ering, pain, or damaging circumstances that they would rather avoid. For some people, life can seem like one continuous assault course. But how do you cope when life does not go as you hope or plan for? Th e purpose of Th e Happiness Lab is to explore ways of becoming a happier person. To achieve that goal we have to fi nd strategies for managing the times when life is tough. It might be too optimistic to think that we can go through diffi cult times “singing and dancing” but could there be a way of accepting and enduring what is going on that will not only bring us through, but also help us grow; perhaps even give us a couple of good days? Th ere is no one-size- fi ts-all when it comes to using coping strategies to deal with the sad times that life can create. What is important is to fi gure out what works for you – and excel at it. As a place to start, it could be useful to ask yourself the question “What if I… ?” Th e reason being that the more prepared you are in advance of entering a diffi cult time, the greater your resources.