Personal Development
Happiness Research, What it Means to You
By Kathie Hightower
Mar 26, 2003 - 3:40:00 PM

One thing I’ve always talked about in my seminars is “focusing on the good.” Giving gratitude for what you have. Research reported on in the US News & World Report issue of September 3, 2001, backs this up. A study by the University of California-Davis found that “people who wrote down five things for which they were grateful in weekly or daily journals were not only more joyful; they were healthier, less stressed, more optimistic, and more likely to help others.”

I’ve kept a gratitude journal for quite a while. I don’t record in it daily anymore because I now have the habit of reviewing what I’m grateful for when I’m falling asleep at night. But I find myself turning to my journal monthly or so, usually if I’m going through a bit of a slump. Reading through the list and adding to it puts me right back into a feeling of abundance.

Try one of these methods to start.

Get a journal you like.

• Sit down and write down 100 things you are grateful for. Small and large. Even if you don’t reach 100, just working towards that will throw you into that “wallowing in abundance” mode.

• Make a list of ten things you are grateful for. Each evening for 30 days, read the list and add one more. By the end of 30 days you’ll be living in abundance thinking.

One last thing — as a military spouse, I am fortunate to get perspective as we move around and live and travel in different places. We know that we live in one of the most (if not THE most) abundant places in the world. If you need a little reminder of how great we have it, just go see the movie Kandahar. Filmed before Sept. 11, it shows what life is like for the women (and the people) of Afghanistan. Grim, chilling, hard to imagine. And it immediately puts your problems into perspective — reminding you of your level of abundance.

Kathie Hightower's Jump Into Life! Workshops and Writings help you pump up your energy, creativity & joy, at work and in life. Contact her at 253-761-8161; kathie@jumpintolife.net or
www.jumpintolife.net

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