Be grateful, be happy
Posted on 14. May, 2009 by Julia Barnard in happiness, Wellbeing Research
New research adds further support to the notion that gratitude brings happiness. The University of Canberra study had 35 students keep gratitude journals where they wrote about the things they were grateful for, every night for six weeks. Afterwards their happiness and wellbeing levels had increased. Keeping a gratitude journal does not take up much time and continues to be an important way to bring happiness. It’s about recognising what’s good in your life and allows a person to reflect on the positive role other people play in their life.
Go on your own gratitude journey:
Make the Change: Over 250 Tips for Your Wellbeing and Happiness
Jai Waugh
28. Jul, 2009
The best time to be grateful and reflect on the positive in one’s life is first thing in the morning, just on waking. It really does set the theme for the day by starting on an ‘up’ note; by acknowledging what you are grateful for and emersing yourself in that goodness, you are also beginning a new, or strengthening a current mindset or skill to have the ability to focus on the positive. Of course, it has to make you happy
Julia Barnard
29. Jul, 2009
Nice point. I can see how it would work well as a means of creating a habit. Because as the day progresses life gets in the way, your resolve weakens and you never quite get around to your good intentions. Saying that, writing about what you are grateful for at night can be a good way to end the day, especially if it’s been a difficult one. You may even sleep better as a result (especially if you are prone to worrying about things when really you should be sleeping).
Jai Waugh
11. Aug, 2009
Thanks Julia – I agree – it is all about habit. Another mind set along this path that often gets us into misery is focusing on the things we haven’t achieved, rather than those we have. If someone has a list of, say, 10 tasks they want to achieve in a day, and at the end of that day, 9 out of the 10 have been achieved, human nature is to focus on, and beat ourselves up over, the one task that was not achieved, instead of the 9 that were! By focusing on what we have (instead of what we don’t) or what has been achieved (instead of what hasn’t), it makes way for a more positive attitude, more confidense and self fullfillment.