Seek gratitude and you might just find happiness.
"We can get so caught up in struggle that an important part of life gets missed: paying attention to the good and feeling grateful for what we have. While it is important to acknowledge, identify, and address our challenges, simply noticing the gifts the world bestows upon us can make significant difference in our outlook on life."
Journaling each day is a great way to do this, but if you don’t feel that writing daily is for you, then try making a short and simple list every night before bed in the same journal. It would ideally consist of:
Something good that happened today
Something you are looking forward to
Something that you are grateful for
That’s it, for my list at least. You may find a different but similar list elsewhere. And note that you don’t have to think of an original idea each time; it is okay to repeat your points if something remains the same for you, such as looking forward to the same thing for multiple days.
My belief is that reviewing the positives from today just before bed helps us to a) simply notice them when otherwise we might not, and b) reinforce them in our minds.
Most importantly, research – as documented by many TED Talks and articles available online – abounds on the connection with gratitude and happiness, whereby gratitude leads to happiness, not the other way around.
The link below offers an impressive collection of 34 TED Talks and other videos documenting the power and gift of gratitude, many of them referencing happiness as a consistent outcome.
https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-ted-talks-videos/
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