Ascribing Intent

Another driver cut you off. Your friend never texted you back. Your co-workers went to lunch without you. Everyone can find a reason to be offended on a steady basis. So what caused you to be offended? You assigned bad intent to these otherwise innocuous actions. You took it as a personal affront, a slap in the face.

Happy people do not do this. They don’t take things personally. They don’t ascribe intent to the unintentional actions of others. The only thing that was really offended was most likely ones pride and ego.