It can be so easy to get bogged down in the negatives of life – small irritations, daily frustrations, and ongoing problems have a way of obscuring the good moments of each day. But if we’re able to put a spotlight on the good things, and even be grateful for some of the negative things, we can experience more joy and happiness no matter what challenges we might face. Janice Kaplan, author and lecturer, shares her tips for greater happiness in the podcast The Gratitude Diaries. Using personal anecdotes as well as expert research, she provides quick, daily motivations and inspirations to help us live happier lives and find more to be grateful for. Let these five episodes get you started on the path to greater happiness, mental health, and gratitude.
There have been more than 100 episodes of The Gratitude Diaries, which means there are more than 100 Ways to Be Happy. Janice shares some of the ideas that resonated most with the listeners, like adding more color to our daily lives to boost our moods, making the bed to start each day with a sense of accomplishment, displaying or growing flowers to reduce stress, and getting a psychological boost from creating something ourselves – even something simple, like cookies or a paper crane. Which one will work best for you?
Psychologists have found that humans have something called “the negativity bias,” which means we often let bad events completely blot out good ones. Even if a director gets 99 rave reviews, the one negative one will be the one that sticks in their head. Janice discusses The Power of Bad and how we can use this information to put criticism into perspective. If we understand the “rule of four,” and the strength of the negativity bias, we’re better equipped to find what’s useful in the negative stuff, learn from it, and then move on.
The holidays looked a lot different this year than in past years, and while we could dwell on all the things we didn’t get to do, Janice suggests that we look for opportunities to create New Traditions. For example, her family usually does the town 5k on Thanksgiving, but when it was canceled, her son decided to organize a family “Turkey Trot,” complete with t-shirts and awards. It was so fun, they decided to do it every year. What new traditions are waiting for you and your family’s future holidays?
Janice, like many of us, likes to save special gifts for later. Fancy chocolates, expensive soap, a special bottle of champagne; we all like to hold onto things like that, as if we’ll enjoy it more in the future. Janice argues that it’s time to enjoy our Favorite Things now, not later. Delayed gratification has its perks, but “why deny ourselves experiences that would make us more grateful and happy right now?” she asks. Whatever you’ve been saving, go get it. Eat the chocolate. Open the wine. Use the soap. Enjoy it now and let it remind you to find something to be grateful for everyday – not just on special occasions.
One New Year’s Eve, Janice was watching the revelers in Times Square dance in the streets and wondered what it might take to make her that happy. What if she moved to Hawaii, or won the lottery? She realized that her “mood, spirit, and attitude” made all the difference; if she won the lottery, she could easily spend next New Year’s Eve complaining that her taxes were too high. But if she resolved to live more gratefully, it wouldn’t take a big event to make her happy. “I was able to give myself the gift of thinking differently,” she says. Listen to The Best New Year’s Ever and give yourself the same gift.
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