What’s the point of feeling ‘happy’? Isn’t it enough to simply get through life? The psychological field has, over the last 15 years or so, begun to develop more of a positivity focus, rather than a ‘diagnose the problem’. The influence of positive emotion and, more lastingly, an optimistic perspective on life in general has been found to be linked not only to longer lifespans, but physically healthier lives, more positive relationships with friends, family and lovers, increased creativity and resilience in difficult situations and an overall higher satisfaction and motivation. This all sounds great, right?! But how do you “grow” positive emotion – especially if you feel like life has been giving you serious lemons?
Engaging in mindfulness and meditation geared at positive thinking, studying some Cognitive Behaviour Therapies and also exploring the Positive Psychology field all provide practical and simple exercises that can be done in under ten minutes a day and, as we can testify, has profound impacts over 14 days on your mental state and sense of wellbeing in general.
Personally, we can report an increased sense of gratitude, vitality, certainty and purpose, as well as a stronger sense of connection, value and presence when around those that we care about (and even those that we don’t!). So, maybe happiness isn’t something that simply comes as a result of achieving goals, but a mental state that can be fostered to improve our lives now, and also fuel us to get to our goals and enjoy the journey along the way!
LLUMI Australia 