Count your joys instead of your woes; Count your friends instead of your foes.

The lines advocate a deliberate shift of attention: tally what sustains you (joys, friends) rather than what drains you (woes, foes). The parallel structure turns the advice into a simple mental practice—an accounting of the heart—suggesting that well-being is shaped not only by circumstances but by what one chooses to emphasize. It does not deny suffering or conflict; instead, it proposes that gratitude and social connection are more reliable measures of a life well lived than grievance and antagonism. The rhyme and balance make the counsel memorable, reinforcing its function as a portable maxim.