Imagine there was a machine connected to your brain and pressing its buttons would change your state. One button would put you into a joyous state, another into an angry state, and a third would make you feel sad. There would be buttons for confidence, anxiety, courage, guilt and every other possible state.
Would you allow another person to have access to your machine? Would you allow your machine to be governed by external factors over which you have no control? Of course not! You would be totally committed to gaining sole rights to push the buttons. Make this your attitude towards controlling your mind.
Make yourself independently happy. Practice focusing on doing actions and thinking thoughts that will put you into the best possible state. Do this in such a way that you are not dependent on any particular person, place, experience, or outcome.
Becoming independently happy is one of the most important skills to master. The way to do this is to take pleasure in all that you do, have, and experience. Take pleasure in giving to others. Take pleasure in living. Take pleasure in learning and growing. Not everyone can become wealthy. But everyone has the ability to learn the necessary skills and attitudes that guarantee a life of happiness.
Permission was kindly granted to reprint from Begin Again Now by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin ©1993
Below is a link to Begin Again Now.
https://www.amazon.com/Begin-Again-Now-Encyclopedia-Strategies/dp/B0006PEABO