To Happiness, Here I Come

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As a psychology student, one of the courses I am currently enrolled in is Social Psychology. This week we learnt about Romantic Relationships and Emotions.  As I am preparing my textbook notes for this weeks upcoming test, I currently came across a study about emotions.  What I learnt is just so helpful to apply to myself, and in doing so I want to help others become aware of their feelings as well.

Disclaimer: I am not a student with a psychology degree. I am a student studying psychology, and sharing the studies and findings that I come across in my textbook.

This one section I was making notes for posed the question, What is happiness? And in the search of exploring what the answer to this question is, I read about cultivating happiness.  This is something I found to be extremely interesting as I can apply these concepts on myself, in hopes of becoming a more positive and happier person.  

There were two different strategies for cultivating one's happiness, and I decided to share one of those strategies with you all.  One of the strategies mentioned was that by living your life with positive emotions, it is the clearest pathways to life satisfaction (Gilovich et al., 228).  With that being said, a study was conducted where individuals were told to count 5 blessings once a week.  These individuals reported higher levels of happiness when compared to individuals who didn't count their blessing (Gilovich et al., 228). 

Reading this particular study wanted me to test this out on myself.  There is no ultimate hypothesis I am trying to prove, I personally just want to count my blessings and see if this eventually makes a difference in my life. 

So bloggers, I present to you my 5 Blessings for this Week:

1. I am thankful for waking up every day this week, to share my life with everyone around me. 

2. I am thankful for the home that I live in.  I may take this for granted all the time, but without my home, I wouldn't have somewhere warm to sleep in at night. 

3. I am thankful for my health.  This week nothing bad occurred in regards to my health, which is an indication that I am getting stronger and healthier. 

4. I am thankful for the education I am receiving.  Although I may get tired and lazy to go to school, but I think I am beginning to realize all the amazing things I can learn and how to apply them to myself, or even to other concepts and subjects. 

5. I am thankful for the food.  This week, and the past week, I kept complaining about how hungry I was. Looking back, I ate more than enough food and so there was really nothing to complain about.  I ate, I am healthy and receiving the nutrients I need. I am thankful for that. 

I challenge you all to write a WEEKLY list of just FIVE blessings you have.  It is not a tough challenge, but I already feel the positivity I am sharing with you all just by writing 5 simple blessings. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend xo, 

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References:

Gilovich, Thomas, Dacher Keltner, and Richard E. Nisbett. Social Psychology. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. Print.