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Cultivate gratitude. Find a way!

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Uploaded by on Jun 28, 2010

Week 26 http://www.happiness-project.com/

One of the most common happiness recommendations is to keep a gratitude journal. Studies show that doing so raises people's life satisfaction, improves health, increases energy, reduces troublesome thoughts, and promotes good sleep.

So, as part of this month of memento mori ("remember you must die"), I started a gratitude journal (although, I must confess, it struck me as somewhat precious and artificial). Each night, I type up three things that I'm grateful for, or appreciate.

Looking back at two weeks of entries, I see that I never mention some of the most important factors for my happiness: a stable, democratic government; my health and the health of my family; the relative lack of dysfunction in my family; my secure financial situation; my love of my work and where I live; the proximity of good friends.

Sometimes, I further my happiness by removing a source of unhappiness—the uneasiness of procrastination, of not doing something I know I ought to do.

And there's a way to extract happiness from this experience, as well.

In a famous story, Sherlock Holmes perceived a clue in the fact that a dog didn't bark. My gratitude journal should remind me to feel happy about the problems that aren't there.

Happy for free, democratic government; for the health of my family; for the fact that I love my job; the fact that the elevator is working. It's so easy to take these things for granted.

And I remind myself to be grateful to all the people in my life who contribute so much to my happiness. I'm trying to show that, every day.

Idea of the week: "Contemplate the extent and stability of the heavens, and at least cease to admire worthless things." Boethius

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  • Great video, you have good stuff that i will try to use....by the way are you single =)????

  • Great video! I love your channel, it really has some good insights.

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