Now, I know right now you are probably thinking "happy and positive" and thinking of twirling around singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music", and sticking a finger down your throat. So let me start with my favorite book. It will change your mind, if not your life. Seriously.
Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive
What I love about this book is that everything in it, is backed up by scientific research. She's not a therapist or a new age monk or Julie Andrews. Barbara Fredrickson is a positive emotion researcher. Which means she lab tests over and over what sort of things can create more positive emotions in people. Study after study in group after group she impartially weeds out ways that people can become happier and shares the top picks in this book.
I read this book about 8 months ago right after it came out and was so excited about it! Here was incontrovertible truth that you can raise your level of positivity and over all well being! I felt it was my social duty to inform everyone I knew about it! The book had several "prescriptions" of things to try that have helped lab groups across the board and after reading the book I resolved to try them all! And then life came and I didn't do one single thing. I felt just reading the book made me have so much hope that I would naturally find time to be more positive. Not so. Not so at all. And after that first glow faded away I went right back to feeling my old blah self. The book of course, warned me about this. That its not enough to think, "Hey! I will have nothing but wonderful thoughts from now on and love everyone!". You have to try these prescriptions for yourself, often with no immediate effects. They take many weeks and sometimes months or a year to change the direction of flowing thoughts. Gag, who wants to take that much time? But here's the most intriguing idea of the book that good ol' Barb has pioneered in her field....
Ever heard of a downward spiral? If you haven't then I hate you and don't talk to me anymore.jk. Because that means you've never experienced that thought. You know the one. That one poisonous thought that leads to another one, and another and another until you can barely get out of bed in the morning. Everyone has had this downward spiral. But Barb says that if you can raise your positive to negative thought ratio to 3-1 you start an upward spiral. This is the point where you begin to thrive in life, life is easy! You feel great! Can you guess what most people she researched were at? Let's just say far below that. And people who are clinically depressed, possibly in the negatives. But here's the good news, No matter what your current circumstances, you can raise that ratio. You can begin to thrive. If you have memories, can tie your shoe, or close your eyes and imagine the back of your hand, you can learn how to habitually become a happier person. That right there is the reason it's worth your time.
I could go on and on, but I should probably feed my kids sometime today so I will leave you with one of her "prescriptions". I'm going to try and give you one to try every time I post for this so if one feels like nails on a chalk board to you then wait for one that resonates with you. Although I encourage you to at least try it. The first is a grateful journal. I'm sure this is not new for some of you, especially if you've ever watched Opera. Remember when she challenged everyone all those years ago to begin one? Well, Opera is Queen of the universe so why didn't you listen to her! haha, no but really, Opera was onto something. With Thanksgiving upon us I thought this would be a great way to begin! Barbara suggests writing down as many things as you can every day for the first 2 weeks and then sporadicly afterward. Writing in it every single day will start to make it feel like work, and we all know work does not make us think positively. :) So try it today! I keep a notebook in my kitchen so I can grab it and write down a few things. Anything. Anything that makes you truly grateful. Whatever you want. Research shows this is one of the most powerful positive emotions you can conjure up, but you must write it down.
So I will leave you with that and for one thing I'm grateful for today.
Today, I am grateful for my house heater. I get cold really really easily and it takes a long time for me to raise my temperature back up if I do get cold. Being even slightly cold can make me really cranky (quiet Beau) and so I am infinitely grateful for home heat. And my fuzzy slippers. What are you grateful for today?
Here's the amazon link for the book if you wish to buy or peruse it. Notice the 4 and 3/4 star rating? Its that good! And yes, I did notice its like, a $90 book but I got it from audible.com for one book credit.
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