gratitude

Feeling Good ~ A Pathway to Happiness

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Aim For Just the Right Amount

FINNISH PEOPLE tend to subscribe to the Nordic philosophy of lagom, or “just the right amount,” says Jukka K. Savolainen, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at Wayne State University. How that’s related to happiness makes sense: If your basic needs are met, there’s no great drive to strive for more, which makes contentment and happiness more attainable. That may be a reason this country topped the U.N.’s 2021 World Happiness Report. “It’s ‘unseemly’ to want more than what’s ‘just right,'” Savolainen says of the Finnish mindset. “It’s the opposite of being flashy. Less is more.”

If “keeping up with the Joneses” is embedded in your thinking, try tapping into gratitude. There’s a long history of research on the link between gratitude and feelings of well-being. When you appreciate what you have, you won’t be so inclined to feel the pressure to achieve more–or the disappointment when you fall short.

Source: Men’s Health(Vol. 37, Issue 3).

Feeling Good – Buoy Your Spirits

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BUOY YOUR spirits by recording happy events. People who write about all the things they are thankful for are optimistic about the upcoming week and more satisfied overall with their lives, according to a University of California, Davis, study. They also feel physically stronger. “It’s hard to be bitter and mad when you’re feeling grateful,” says Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, author of the upcoming book The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want.

But don’t overdo it. Women who kept a gratitude journal only once a week got a bigger boost in happiness than those asked to record their good fortune three times a week. Find the frequency that works for you–giving thanks shouldn’t feel like a chore.

Kindness Works ~ Be Kind to Yourself

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Being Kind to Yourself is Good for You

It is not just how you treat other people — it is how you extend those same behaviors and intentions to yourself as well. I believe you can be kinder in your own self-talk and practice gratitude. People are good at verbally beating themselves up, and rarely does that work as a pep talk. Rather, negativity often causes you to unravel and may even create a vicious cycle of regularly getting down on yourself. You wouldn’t talk to your neighbor the way you sometimes talk to yourself. This is what I call the “good neighbor policy,” which can be helpful. If you would not say it to your good neighbor, do not say it about yourself.

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Today’s Poem ~ A Thing of Beauty

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A Thing of Beauty

John Keats

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its lovliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkn’d ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.

 

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Optimism Works ~ Counting Your Blessings Recharges You

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Count your blessings. Emiliana Simon-Thomas of the Greater Good Science Center at the Uni-versity of California, Berkeley, USA, says that remembering what you’re grateful for will boost cheerful emotions. She suggests trying to keep a gratitude journal to get into the habit (Source).

Each of us has been blessed with good things happening to us throughout our day. When something goes wrong, we let the one wrong event take credit for the whole day. It’s a myth. Ask yourself, “What are the good things that happened to me today?” Did you have a hot shower? Did you start your day off with a hot cup of coffee or tea? Did someone say, ‘I love you.’ C’mon, think of the all the good things that a happened today and list them in your gratitude journal. I think I see a smile spreading across your face.

Make a list of all the good things that happened to You in 2022

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Make a list of all the good things that happened to you in 2022. If you’re in a relationship, it’s a chance for a cheap date (head out to a coffee shop) and brainstorm the good things that happened to you as a couple and individually. You’ll discover 2022 wasn’t so bad after all. You’ll discover more good came to you than you realized. You’ll be filled gratefulness for 2022 and hope for 2023. Yes, make this time a time to focus on the good that surrounded you during the year.

Today’s Positive Thought ~ The Miracle of You

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“You’re something between a dream and a miracle (Elizabeth Barrett Browning).” We often don’t think of ourselves as a miracle, we look for miracles outside of us. Yet, we are an incomprehensible miracle. When I finished an extensive workout at the gym yesterday I happened to glance at my right forearm. My blood veins were swollen from my exercise. I followed the veins down my forearm. I saw how they branched off into my fingers and for an instant I was overwhelmed with the miracle of my body. I comprehended how all the pieces work together. I was filled with gratitude. Yes, we are something between a dream and a miracle.

What if I visited a place of worship?

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What if I visited a place of worship (church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or a sacred space known only to you)? What would I experience. My experience is if I sit quietly, with a grateful mindset, I experience a growing sense of peace and desire to linger longer than I intended to linger. I leave feeling one with those I encounter and with all aspects of creation. The feeling gradually wears off, but I know, like my car, I have to refill (or recharge) it periodically.

What if I surprised someone with a gift they weren’t expecting?

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What if I surprised someone with a gift they weren’t expecting, what would I experience? I know how I’d feel. It’s happened many times to me. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I am overwhelmed with a desire to repay the grateful act. When I’ve surprised someone with an unexpected gift my joy is experienced in the joy that person feels. Go ahead, surprise someone today.

What if I kept a daily grateful journal?

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What if I kept a daily grateful journal, what would I experience? I don’t know what you’ll experience, however, I can share what I experience. Each day after dinner, I set aside quiet time where I make my list of those things for which I was grateful for during the day. As I’m making my list, I find a great sense of peace coming over me. I don’t think about it, it just happens. When I’m finished with my list, I often sit and and enjoy the deep peaceful feeling that has grabbed hold of me.

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