Of course there are other ways to achieve this state

The other day, a friend was lamenting the sad state of affairs in the world. War, poverty, hunger, crime, environmental catastrophes, the shameful state of our government and its duopolistic party system…they were really digging in. I ordinarily would be the source of this kind of lamenting myself, but whenever some else does it, the rebel in me starts acting up, and I drag out my favorite toolbox for dismantling this kind of gloomy thinking. I start by pointing out that if you take a city like Los Angeles – which has a population of about 4 million people – you’ll find that every day a person is murdered, there are about 45 robberies, 80 cases of aggravated assault, 70 burglaries, and 90 cars stolen. That means that out of a city of 4,000,000 people, 3,999,714 of them were pretty much behaving. Which actually is pretty remarkable. I then introduce the idea of Pronoia, the suspicion that the universe is conspiring to work in your favor. For “Pronoia 101″, I always point people to Rob Brezsny’s Glory in the Highest, an excerpt from his book Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia. In it, he walks you through the beginning of an average person’s day, pointing out just how many more things are working than not working. Getting your mind adapted to this kind of thing is pretty useful. It doesn’t mean your life will then be all serene and gloriously comforting; on the contrary, life always seems to dish out as much as you can take, so one of the dangers of taking joy in all this finely-tuned universe stuff is that as soon as you’re ready for it, more crap is probably on the way. Which is why I then suggest that if you can’t take the buddha-like approach of living in perfect acceptance in the present, you at least take the Mel Brooks approach of “hope for the best, expect the worst” because as he then adds: “the world’s a stage, we’re unrehearsed”. Improvise. It’ll probably work out.

Rob Brezsny’s Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia is kind of like a Farmer’s Almanac of Jungian post-new age cynical hipster realist positivism. Portions are brilliant, it’s occasionally a little overwrought in its self-helpiness, but it’s a treasure in its own way; both fun and inspiring to pick up and peruse randomly over time.

I often find myself employing Mel Brooks’ “hope for the best expect the worst” approach as well.

From Mel Brooks’ movie Twelve Chairs

Hope for the best, expect the worst,
Some drink champagne, some die of thirst,
No way of knowing
Which way it’s going,
Hope for the best, expect the worst

Hope for the best, expect the worst,
The world’s a stage, we’re unrehearsed,
Some reach the top, friends,While others drop, friends,
Hope for the best, expect the worst

I knew a man who made a fortune that was splendid
Then he died the day he’d planned to go and spend it
Shouting “Live while you’re alive! No one will survive!”
Life is sorrow — here today and gone tomorrow.
Live while you’re alive, no one will survive –There’s no guarantee.

Hope for the best, expect the worst,
You could be Tolstoy or Fanny Hurst.
You take your chances,There are no answers,
Hope for the best expect the worst!

I knew a man who made a fortune that was splendid
Then he died the day he’d planned to go and spend it
Shouting “Live while you’re alive! No one will survive!”
Life is funny — spend your money! Spend your money!
Live while you’re alive, no one will survive –There’s no guarantee.

Hope for the best, expect the worst,
The rich are blessed, the poor are cursed,
That is a fact, friends,The deck is stacked, friends,
Hope for the best, expect the –

Even with a good beginning, it’s not certain that you’re winning;
even with the best of chances,they can kick you in the pantses
Look out for the, watch out for the worst! Hey!