We are all struggling to stay positive with everything happening in the world right now. However, I have one simple, practical thing for you to try. And if you do, I have no doubt it will lead to you experiencing greater happiness and feeling better about your life.
And yes, I've tried it, myself, and it made a remarkable difference in my outlook on life and overall happiness.
Challenge:
Write down 3 things you are grateful for 21 consecutive days.
It sounds crazy, I know. I thought that too in the beginning until I reluctantly gave it a shot.
I could very well end the post right here because if you try it, you will see for yourself how strong of a concept it is. However, I suppose you’d appreciate some explanation, so here we go...
What if I told you that happiness and better health correlate strongly with gratitude?
This gratitude challenge forces you to notice the good around you, as you gain increased awareness of the things you are grateful for.
There is a reason someone once wrote that “gratitude turns what we have into enough.” It simply, yet powerfully opens to the door to experience the fullness of life.
There was a study done on gratitude by two psychologist professors. Over a 10 week period, they had one group of students write down a few sentences of things they were grateful for. Another group wrote down their annoyances and frustrations. The third group wrote about things that were neither positive nor negative.
The group that focused on what they were grateful for felt significantly better about life, exercised more. And as a result of focusing less on aggravation and negativity, they experienced better health.
Research shows that both your brain and body literally perform better when you operate from a place of positivity.
"But I'll Be Happy When..."
It’s funny how we think we will be happy once we get there or there. However, there is not a place you could ever reach that will give you the genuine and lasting happiness you think it will if you are not able to first find it where you are now.
The great thing about this is that if you can be happy in the present, you've already overthrown a big challenge our society faces today: discontentment. The continuous search for what we deem ultimate success becomes exhausting when we can't appreciate what we already have.
Once we reach our idealized point of success without gratitude, we get frustrated about why that fulfillment was temporary. Ultimately, this leads to another cycle of greater unhappiness. This is the science of happiness...
If you are someone who likes a little more structure than the simple prompt to write 3 things you are grateful for, then take a look at this 21 Day Gratitude Challenge Calendar from passionplanner.com.
How is it possible that something as simple as happiness seems so difficult to achieve?
If you find yourself in this struggle, check this out!
Thank you for your support. Let me know how this site can better support you.
Broken to Beautiful. Where Your Pain Becomes Your Power