Boats and Saltwater make me happy.
Taken in Morro Bay in early 2009, on the Cali Central Coast, my #2 happy place.
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| I recently came across a study and book by Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky that intrigued me. First of all, this book has a half eaten pie on the cover, so already it has my attention. I'm happy because I have eaten half a pie, and happy because I still have half a pie to go. What I like about her book and advice: First, it follows the theory espoused in "The Strangest Secret in the World" by Earl Nightingale, which I read and heard many times in my teens and twenties. I very much believe that "we become what we think about all day long." Second, what she offers up is simple. She may be a doc, but she is plainspoken and can be followed by any of us. I have seen these things work in my own life, so I can relate. |
Some of her study results/advice:
1. Be grateful: Some study participants were asked to write letters of gratitude to people who had helped them in some way. The study found that these people reported a lasting increase in happiness – over weeks and even months – after implementing the habit. What's even more surprising: Sending the letter is not necessary. Even when people wrote letters but never delivered them to the addressee, they still reported feeling better afterward.
2. Be optimistic: Another practice that seems to help is optimistic thinking. Study participants were asked to visualize an ideal future – for example, living with a loving and supportive partner, or finding a job that was fulfilling – and describe the image in a journal entry. After doing this for a few weeks, these people too reported increased feelings of well-being.
3. Count your blessings: People who practice writing down three good things that have happened to them every week show significant boosts in happiness, studies have found. It seems the act of focusing on the positive helps people remember reasons to be glad.
4. Use your strengths: Another study asked people to identify their greatest strengths, and then to try to use these strengths in new ways. For example, someone who says they have a good sense of humor could try telling jokes to lighten up business meetings or cheer up sad friends. This habit, too, seems to heighten happiness.
5. Commit acts of kindness: It turns out helping others also helps ourselves. People who donate time or money to charity, or who altruistically assist people in need, report improvements in their own happiness.
While I haven't made a point by point happiness plan like this, I will say that I do have one. Doing this blog, spending time on my photography is part of it. Like I said in my first blogoversary post, I have made some great friends that I believe will turn into real life friends this year, and that will enrich my life.
If you have an iPhone (then you must already be kinda happy since this is the best cell phone/device ever invented, yet anyway), you can get her happiness iPhone app here at iTunes. (Having to log into iTunes will make me very unhappy, because it is one of the most brain dead pieces of software I have ever had to use, but that is another story.)
Here is the Amazon link to the book. Now that I have written all of this (actually some I purloined hee hee), I know just the person I want to order this book for. I'll have to see if she is in a good enough mood to read it (Point #4, sense of humor).
Back to the image at the top of the screen, why is the Central Coast my #2 happy place - where is #1? Click on the continue link to find out, and to comment, and discuss your happiness. The counseling session is open.
Life on a yacht in British Columbia, my #1 Happy Time/Place
I have travelled a lot of the world, but not Africa, South America or the Antarctic. For my money thus far, Canada's BC is my #1 place. With the Olympics underway right now you have seen a lot of that beauty. Imagine those same mountains, but going into the water. Above is Princess Louisa Inlet, surely one of the most beautiful places on the planet. And to be on a nice yacht, with friends & family, well I'm glad the sun stays up to 9 pm so I can just keep enjoying the wonderful time.
I'll "be happy" to be back there, and I hope it is soon!
