The joys

Talking about our problems is certainly a great addiction. When we talk about our problems with friends and family, we get this immediate response of attention but it feeds back into a loop of a story that never really resolves itself.

I'm not suggesting that you bottle up the things that you really need to talk about to reach out for help but I am suggesting that you start to find a balance of what you talk about with your friends and family.

The celebration of life, your mini and large successes, the things that made you smile or laugh that day or even the thoughts that reminded you of great memories you have with special people.

What I think goes hand in hand with talking about your joys is gratitude.

SoulPancake did this great piece on the science of happiness... One of the greatest contributing factors of happiness is how much gratitude you show.

Just watch the video... And maybe go ahead and start breaking the habit!!!

Comments

[Kate L.]

The original report (I downloaded and read some of it) and this video have pricked my conscience.

For me to intensely FEEL gratitude is not enough! Gratitude and appreciation must be expressed, maybe to people who are not even part of the story, but especially to those who have given something of themselves to me.

For some who have shared some small or large greatness with me, it is too late (the giver has moved, suffers dementia, has passed on), but it does me no good to kick myelf for not saying something when there was opportunity.

This is the kind of "failure" (lapse/omission) that provides a good teaching oppurtunity for myself and for others: make up my mind to try to do better from here on out and to share my lessons-learned with others.

It is also a good time for me to remind ourselves that it is just as important to forgive myself as it is for me to forgive others. Jesus' feet walked a sorrowful journey and he endured suffering so that my sins could be forgiven. Who am I (italicized) to not forgive myself?? To not do so would show a LACK of gratitude, as well as a lack of humbleness, and would diminish the glory of his sacrifice.

In view of my having recently received numerous gifts (and my subsequent shameful lack of expressing profound gratitude), I would like to amend some of the verbiage found at the bottom of this page:

"In this world of ours, unbounded joy is your right to discover and keep. In this world of ours, causeless love is your responsibility to give unconditionally."