I'm a million times happier today than I ever used to be. Which, I think, is reason enough to believe in all these things and much, much more. In my humble opinion, faith in power of joy is the foundation for everything.

I used to think I couldn't do any of the things I wanted to do. I had thousands of thoughts on the subject of how scared and stupid I was. Then I started learning about thoughts and how 99 percent of them are simply negative nonsense.

Sometimes the highlight of your day can be with a total stranger. Sometimes a life opportunity comes along in an utterly unexpected way. And then because you have so many eggs in so many baskets, when you're faced with the occasional rejection, you'll hardly notice it at all.

It takes vision to be successful at anything. You need to be able to see beyond the limits of what you believe to be possible.

Living a happy life then isn't about stamping out your fears but using them as a barometer to check whether or not you're living your life to the fullest: If you're feeling a little scared then the answer is yes!

If life feels too challenging I remind myself that sometimes we need to be stimulated into action by adversity. Most social movements were the result of people finally getting fed up by being told what they couldn't do.

Figure skaters remind me of what's possible in terms of triumphing over the urge to have a temper tantrum or wallow in self-pity and instead keep living your life with full brilliance and passion.

The trick is not to start things lightly, be it a novel or an exercise class, and not say "yes" before you really realize what it will entail. You'll feel a lot better if you only start a few things but always finish them. Knowing you can trust and rely on yourself is a great thing indeed.

I find total absorption in something much easier than meditation, with the added bonus that you have something to show for it at the end. And the few hours you spent free from thought will stand you in very good stead with whatever you need to do next.

It does seem a little unfair that we have to go through so much face-falling in life. I'm not sure why this should be the case, but I chose to believe we're given challenges so we can learn to be courageous. Because, in terms of life lessons, nothing feels much better than being brave.

If you take care to love the life you have, to nurture and appreciate it, then waiting is no longer so frustrating. It can even become exciting, as exciting as the countdown to Christmas.

I believe that difficult things happen so we can learn from them. I don't believe this because I know it to be true -- how can I? -- but because, a long time ago, I decided it'd be the best way to look at life.

Self-pity is seductive, wrapping its soft arms around you until you fall asleep, and you must be strong against it. If you sink into this particular feather mattress for too long, you may never wake up.

While I was an aspiring writer I believed that being a successful writer would change my life. Of course, I'd be much happier, I just knew it. I believed this all the years I was writing, right up until the day my first book was published.

I believe in love and inspiration. I believe in passion and true desire. I believe that if a person follows the gentle urging of their heart then they'll find success doing what they want to do.

At first, when I was a young wannabe writer I made the mistake of comparing myself to all the writers I most admired. I read their books and wondered how on earth I would ever write anything even touching the lofty heights of their gorgeous sentences and beautiful stories.

No doubt you've read numerous quotations about the source of happiness being internal rather than external. But it's such a profound and significant statement it always bears repeating.

You can't push an idea into fruition. You can't sit and wait and stamp your feet. Believe me, I've tried; it doesn't work. But if you want to achieve any artistic endeavor, you must also be willing to work even when you're not in the mood.

Very few of us are born geniuses. Even those who are still spend most of their time practicing their God-given talents, concentrating the laser beam of their focus into shaping and perfecting their skills. But the rest of us can forget the importance of practice and concentration.

To be told that we're lovely and amazing can, strangely, be a hard thing to hear. Most of us have a low threshold for such intimacy and adoration. And yet, if we can't let much love in, then life will never work out the way we want it to. It is then, something for us all to practice.

I used to think that successful people aren't scared. I believed they achieved greatness because they were far braver than I. I imagined they had special reserves of fire that I would never have.

People who overcome great suffering and great odds hold us all in their hearts. They show us what's possible. They remind us that when we want to give up hope, we don't have to.

Wishing, hoping and dreaming are essential. Without them we'd give up. But wishing for something is only the beginning. It's the surge of desire, the flush in our hearts that lets us know what we want.

It was many years before I was finally published, but on that day I thought of my friend. I knew, though we hadn't spoken in years, that he was still sitting in his office, talking about wanting to leave, believing he still dreamt of becoming a writer.