Happiness and Gratitude

In an earlier post, Kari Henley brought the brilliant point of WIIFY (What’s In It For You) regarding service. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-henley/why-dont-we-volunteer-the_b_218155.html. Here are some reasons for you to consider looking at your life through the lens of thankfulness.

They Got Out the Magnifying Glass
Leave it to some savvy researchers to put gratitude under the microscope. New studies are confirming that all the stuff you thought would make you happy—the turbo-charged new car, the two-week jaunt to Bora Bora, the closet full of new shoes—doesn’t. An attitude of gratitude turns out to be a bigger predictor of who is feeling glad to be alive than a big ol’ whopping bank account. Yep, just wearing Gratitude Glasses made the difference.

Happiness cuts across economic lines. Contentment can’t tell the difference between a Camry and a Cadillac. Another study found that folks who were appreciative for what they had (whether they had a lot or a little) were as happy as the people who had the most. Wait. It gets even better. The people who were grateful for what they had, even if it wasn’t much, were twice as happy as those who actually had the most stuff. Ha! What better proof?

Get yourself a prescription for a pair of thankfulness lenses and watch your life transform.