SOAR TO SUCCESS / Personal Growth Strategies at a glass that was half empty, rather than half full. Two years of never ending “breaking news” pulled me into the vortex of the next bad current event. Picture this: at the end of a seemingly perfect day, you receive a piece of bad news. The bad news overshadows whatever great day you may have experienced. You then dwell on that one thing rather than the cumulative experience of a wonderful day. This was me and I felt ungrateful. I chose to be purposeful and elevating. By journaling publicly, I shared my gratitude. I didn’t expect anyone to comment on the posts. But people did and expressed to me (both online and in person) that they start their day by reading my posts. Given the polarities of the world now, I often write about being kind, because it continues to lift others up around me. Two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami have done extensive research on gratitude. In one study, they asked participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on topics. One group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred that week. A second group wrote about daily irritations or things that displeased them, and the thirdwrote about events that affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. They also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation. Read their article here. Another leading researcher in this field, Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, tested the impact of various positive psychology interventions on 411 people, each compared with a control assignment of writing about early memories. When their week’s assignment was to write and deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness, participants immediately exhibited a huge increase in happiness scores. This impact was greater than that from any other intervention, with benefits lasting for a month. Gratitude shifts focus from what your life lacks to abundance that is already present. Bring gratitude to your experiences, instead of waiting for a positive experience to occur. Gratitude shifts focus from what your life lacks to abundance that is already present.
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