Happiness

[indigo_rose99]

I recently read about happiness, and have been thinking a lot about what it takes to be happy. A website I ran across claimed enormous benefits with the following changes:

1.   Three Gratitudes

Before you go to bed each night, write down three things that you're grateful for. Try to do this every night for at least a week. The more specific your list is, the better. For instance, if you are grateful for your children, write down something specific they did today that made you smile.

The Benefit: Research shows that people who keep a daily gratitude list feel better about their lives as a whole and feel more optimistic about the coming week. Compared to control groups, they exercise more frequently and report fewer physical complaints. They also experience more positive emotions, fewer negative emotions, and exhibit more helpful behavior towards friends and neighbors (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).

2.   Maximizing Strengths

First, go here to take the VIA Strengths survey and find out what your Signature Strengths are. Now try to use one of these strengths in a new and different way every day for a week. Try to shape a normally boring daily task into one that uses your strength in a creative way. 

The Benefit: In a 2005 nationwide study, people who completed this task every day for just one week showed increased levels of happiness and decreased symptoms of depression directly after the experiment AND a full 6 months later (Seligman, et al., 2005). Students who use their signature strengths have higher GPAs and fewer absences (Harter, 1998). Employees who have the opportunity to use their top strengths at work every day report greater job satisfaction and 38% higher productivity levels (Gallup, 2005).

3.   Journaling

A few times in the coming week, take 20 minutes to write in your journal about a recent positive experience. Try to be as specific as you can about the experience and why it made you happy.

The Benefit: People who write about positive experiences at least 3 times a week report enhanced positive mood and a 50% drop in doctors visits up to three months later (Burton & King, 2004). Also, couples who journal about their relationship are significantly more likely than control group couples to still be together 3 months later (Slatcher & Pennebaker, 2006).

4.   Meditation

Every day, take 5 minutes to sit quietly and watch your breath go in and out. Try to clear your mind of other thoughts and just think about your breathing.

The Benefit: People who meditate on a regular basis experience less stress, enjoy more energy, and bounce back from illness faster. They report higher levels of happiness and lower levels of depression. They also have a decreased risk of heart disease and a higher tolerance for pain (Shapiro, Schwartz & Santerre, 2005).

I took the poll (number 2) and was utterly unsurprised by my signature strengths. Persistence. Yeah, a real shocker! I'm not sure how to use persistence in a new and different way even for one day! How many ways can one be persistent?

I have been thinking about positive experiences every day for at least a year now. Not writing it down, just talking about it with T. Some days the best part of our day kinda sucks. And that is sad. But there are a lot of days that practically everything in the day was awesome and picking just one is really difficult. 

I could probably take up meditation. I have been thinking quite a bit recently about the noise in my life. TV, music, radio, audio books... I have too little silence. I have been working to increase my creativity, and I think silence would go very well with it. 

Comments

[reedrover]

Why not apply persistence in a quest to find beauty in your world, or to find a new person to smile at every day, or to identify a new plant species every week? It can be a regular *action* and a new *object* every time.

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

Hmm... Interesting idea. Being a natural pessimist, I may have to start small and work my way up on this one.

[(Anonymous)]

I wonder if the benefit is actually caused by the action, or if rather it's just that natural "Pollyanna"s are more likely to follow through on these types of actions...

As an aside, Perserverence was third from last on my survey, just above Self-Regulation and Spirituality! Now, how do I go about making an office job "Beautiful" and "Creative"...

Texpenguin

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

Does it really matter if it is the action or a Pollyanna-style thing, if it works? I'm a big fan of placebos, so long as it works!

[steelgoh.livejournal.com]

Good for you for trying to be deliberate about this. It is far too easy to glide along in routine without stopping to ask yourself if you're happy.

I used StrengthsFinder which gives you 5 strengths (the system is the source of the Gallup stat you cited above). It was a big part of propelling me to make changes in my job...even though it listed my top strength as "Analysis." Again, duh.

The gratitude list is good; but I find it difficult to maintain as a habit for any extended period of time. When successful, it usually gets folded into prayer and meditation.

Journaling is a mixed bag for me. If I am already in a good/decent mood it works well. If I am feeling blue, it often turns into an outlet for me to beat myself up or get on an awful hamster wheel of anxiety and frustration.

DO you think you will try any of the suggestions you described?

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

I'm trying now to increase noticing things that make me happy, beautiful sights, or things to be grateful for each day. I would say reading about happiness has spured me on.

The meditation one is the one I'd really like to put in my routine. I think I'm still in the rattling-around-my- brain stage on it, trying to figure where and how it would best fit in. I think I've got a few more weeks at this stage before I expect to see progress.

I'm trying to adjust to "slowly" being an acceptable pace for personal change. I don't typically do anything slowly.