According to neuroscience, even before events happen the brain has already made a prediction about what is most likely to happen, and sets in motion the perception, behaviors, emotions, physiologic responses and interpersonal ways of relating that best fit with what is predicted. In a sense, we learn from the past what to predict for the future and then live the future we expect.
— Regina Pally, The Predicting Brain

Researches showed that people who find a dime at a copy machine were happier then those that did not. (This was a study in which participants were asked to make a copy of their questionnaires. Researches planted a dime at copy machines for half the group, and no dimes were planted for the other half.)

Clearly, the conclusion to draw is not that money brings happiness; rather, finding what we don’t expect can bring happiness.

Reading this study, it made me think – what if we are able to let go of, or at least loosen, our predictions and our expectations. What if we could see through fresh eyes?