There are two types of people in this world - the "half full" folks and the "half empty" folks. The "half empty" population tends to think in terms of what they don't have - in terms of scarcity, rather than abundance - while the "half fulls" live life the other way around, vividly aware of all of their blessings and determined to wring the last drop of joy out of life that is possible, regardless of the situation. I'll give you two guesses as to which group is happier, but I bet you won't need both!

The funny thing is that while all of the success in the world won't make a "half empty" thinker happy, because someone's always richer, smarter, cooler or better than them, the "half full" people are generally content even when they haven't reached their goals, because they enjoy the journey and they know that more is coming. And seeing others become successful doesn't weigh them down either, because they know that there's plenty for everyone - and that being surrounded by successful people isn't a bad thing, either!

So which are you, scarcity or abundance?  Life is not a zero-sum game - one person's success or gain does not mean less for everyone else. So celebrate the wins of others and remember to enjoy the trip as much as the destination. It's all a matter of how you look at things - after all, the glass is holding the same amount in either case - but that little trick of perception can mean a world of difference in your state of happiness and your ability to enjoy your life.

Soni Pitts

Soni Pitts is a writer and personal life coach currently living in SE Missouri, US.

As a writer, Soni has two main goals. Her first goal is to use her innate copywriting abilities to rid the world of ambiguous, confusing and boring copy. Her second goal is to use her creative writing skills to make a living meeting cool people and doing cool things, then writing about it.

As a personal life coach, Soni works with people who have reached the point of epiphany (eg: "There's got to be more to life than this") rebuild sustainable lives and lifestyles that work for themselves and for the world around them.

She is also the Assistant Community Coach of the Social Capital and Networking Community of CoachVille, and volunteers on the board of her local Habitat for Humanity Affiliate.