By Lisa Cypers Kamen.
Have you ever thought about the power of gratitude? We’ve discussed the idea of a gratitude journal before.
What emotions are linked with happiness? Optimism, hopefulness, curiosity and gratitude are all emotions that go hand in hand with happiness, but are just a few of many others.
One emotion that is most valuable is gratitude. The exercise of keeping a daily Gratitude Journal is a tool that builds happiness. Every day you can write down in your Gratitude Journal the things that you are grateful for.
Journaling pushes you to notice the good things that happen and brings to your attention the positives of your day. This push is a positive thing; don’t think of it in negative terms.
Don’t take your life for granted. Your journal entries may be simple, like finding your favorite food on sale, or another day when the car started on the first try, or someone smiling at you. You might mention an accomplishment at work, a good meal, a phone call that mattered.
Start today by looking for moments in your life that bring you happiness and gratitude. It doesn’t have to be a big thing- some of the smallest things can bring a bright spot to you and change your mood or at least shift it in a more positive direction.
When you first start out, you may only find one thing each day to write down. That’s okay. As you continue doing this, more and more good things will come to you.
At the end of a long, stressful day, pull out your journal and review your gratitude list for that day. If nothing else, it will make you smile as you reflect on those moments. It may also relieve some of your tension at the same time. Try it for yourself and see what happens!
Lisa Cypers Kamen is a filmmaker, positive psychology coach, author, host of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio, professor and lecturer specializing in the field of sustainable happiness. She is widely recognized as an expert on the subject. Lisa’s acclaimed documentary film co-produced with her now fifteen year-old daughter, Kayla, “H-Factor…Where is your heart?” explores how people in varied circumstances find, generate and share happiness. In addition to her film on happiness, Lisa has also published a number of articles and books entitled, Got Happiness Now?, Are We Happy Yet?, Leadership: Helping Others to Succeed and Reintegration Strategies, about combat trauma and using positive psychology principles to create wellness in a post-war new normal. Lisa’s written work is featured on blogs for the Huffington Post, PositivelyPositive.com and InspireMeToday.com and she is a TEDx community event speaker. In addition, she is the Happiness Expert for the Florida Department of Citrus/ Florida Orange Juice in its Take on the Day campaign.
Harvesting Happiness for Heroes™ is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that delivers stigma-free integrated combat trauma recovery services to warriors and their loved ones. Modalities include scientifically proven strengths based Positive Psychology coaching and interdisciplinary tools such as film, yoga, meditation, art and creative writing designed to mindfully empower the client to achieve increased self-mastery, self-esteem and reclaim her/his life. HH4Heroes focuses on the balance of mind, body and emotion resulting in greater overall wellbeing and the transformation of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) into Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG). HH4Heroes offers retreat workshops, one-on-one coaching, Battle Buddy programs, as well as our new R.E.B.O.O.T Online virtual community coaching classrooms designed to reach underserved areas. In addition, HH4Heroes deploys Return to Duty™ civilian and corporate training to help welcome a warrior home and into the community and workplace.
Lisa is committed to teaching Happiness is an inside job™ and helping others end their needless suffering through intentionally cultivating greater joy.
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