What makes people “Happy” ???
According to Paul Davis-Laack (J.D., M.A.P.P.), there are 10 things that “Happy People” do differently than others. I love #3:
3) They practice gratitude. Gratitude does the body good. It helps you cope with trauma and stress, increases self-worth and self-esteem when you realize how much you’ve accomplished, and often helps dissolve negative emotions. Research also suggests that the character strength of gratitude is a fairly strong correlate with life satisfaction (Park, et.al., 2004).
It’s easy to feel grateful when things are going our way. What stumps most of us is when things aren’t so great. How are you supposed to be grateful then? This is exactly what separates the “Happy People” from the rest of us. They are able to find reasons to express gratitude regardless of the situation.
A key to developing an innate sense of happiness is developing an innate sense of gratitude. But how do you do that? How does a person change a mindset? Easier said than done. That’s like telling a very shy person to simply stop being shy. Or telling a hungry person not to be hungry anymore. Right.
One way to develop a mindset of gratitude is to practice it outside of negative situations. Some people keep a daily gratitude journal in order to develop habitual thinking. Others complete on-line gratitude challenges. I worked through the Art of Gratitude course. The time spent focusing on gratitude, especially in the third lesson, got me into a habit of finding thankfulness in everyday situations.
What do you do?
