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Joy to the world! ‘Tis the season to be jolly! Everyone is happy during the holidays, right?
Wrong. Life can be hard for many people during the holiday season. The holidays bring out heightened emotions, both positive and negative. It makes me wonder, is there a secret to having an optimistic attitude? What can I do to become more positive and happy during the holidays and all year long?
Dr. Martin Seligman, a psychologist and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, has extensively studied optimism and happiness. He has found that an optimistic outlook is important for our happiness and well-being. Optimistic people have stronger relationships. They live longer, are better leaders and have less depression. Optimism is not just about hoping that things will get better. It is a feeling within ourselves that pushes us to change things for the better.
One way to build optimism is to look for small hidden treasures everyday or to “hunt the good stuff.”
Most of us spend too much time thinking about what has gone wrong instead of what is going right. Seligman and his colleagues developed an activity to help you notice the small everyday positive experiences that will enhance gratitude, optimism and happiness.
Here’s a “hunt the good stuff” activity anyone can do:
- Write down three positive experiences from the day. They can be small or large. Things you did or witnessed in others or in nature. It is recommended to do this activity for one week every night to build the habit.
- Next to each positive event that you list, write a reflection. Why this good thing happened, what this good thing means to you, what you can do tomorrow to enable more of this good thing and what ways you or others contribute to this good thing.
“Hunt the good stuff” exercises can also be used with your family every night at dinner to develop a new holiday tradition. Writing down or verbally discussing “good stuff” helps to overcome negativity and builds gratitude. You may just find that this activity is the best gift to you and your family.
For more information about creating happiness go to:
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx.
Editor’s note: Tracy McClung is a master resiliency trainer with the Army Physical Fitness Research Institute Annex at the Command and General Staff College.
Joy to the world! ‘Tis the season to be jolly! Everyone is happy during the holidays, right?
Wrong. Life can be hard for many people during the holiday season. The holidays bring out heightened emotions, both positive and negative. It makes me wonder, is there a secret to having an optimistic attitude? What can I do to become more positive and happy during the holidays and all year long?
Dr. Martin Seligman, a psychologist and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, has extensively studied optimism and happiness. He has found that an optimistic outlook is important for our happiness and well-being. Optimistic people have stronger relationships. They live longer, are better leaders and have less depression. Optimism is not just about hoping that things will get better. It is a feeling within ourselves that pushes us to change things for the better.
One way to build optimism is to look for small hidden treasures everyday or to “hunt the good stuff.”
Most of us spend too much time thinking about what has gone wrong instead of what is going right. Seligman and his colleagues developed an activity to help you notice the small everyday positive experiences that will enhance gratitude, optimism and happiness.
Here’s a “hunt the good stuff” activity anyone can do:
- Write down three positive experiences from the day. They can be small or large. Things you did or witnessed in others or in nature. It is recommended to do this activity for one week every night to build the habit.
- Next to each positive event that you list, write a reflection. Why this good thing happened, what this good thing means to you, what you can do tomorrow to enable more of this good thing and what ways you or others contribute to this good thing.
“Hunt the good stuff” exercises can also be used with your family every night at dinner to develop a new holiday tradition. Writing down or verbally discussing “good stuff” helps to overcome negativity and builds gratitude. You may just find that this activity is the best gift to you and your family.
For more information about creating happiness go to:
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx.
Editor’s note: Tracy McClung is a master resiliency trainer with the Army Physical Fitness Research Institute Annex at the Command and General Staff College.
