Monday, December 16, 2002

Part 2:Gratitude has a lot to do with life satisfaction, psychologists say. Talking and writing about what they're grateful for amplifies adults' happiness, new studies show. Other researchers have found that learning to savor even small pleasures has the same effect. And forgiveness is the trait most strongly linked to happiness, says University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson.

"It's the queen of all virtues, and probably the hardest to come by," he adds.

There's also evidence that altruistic acts boosts happiness in the giver. That doesn't surprise Betsy Taylor, president of the Center for a New American Dream, a Takoma Park, MD, non-profit that favors simple living and opposes commercialism. "The altruism part is worth keeping in mind over the holidays," Taylor says. "Our mantra is 'more fun, less stuff.' Do for others, we say."

None of us knows [what will make us happy in the future], says Harvard University psychologist Daniel Gilbert. People expect that events will have a larger and more enduring impact--for good or ill--than they really do, Gilbert's studies find.

"If you knew exactly what the future held, you still wouldn't know how much you would like it when you got there," Gilbert says. In pursuing happiness, he suggests "we should have more trust in our own resilience and less confidence in our predictions about how we'll feel. We should be a bit more humble and a bit more brave."

I would add, we should have more confidence in God and the fact that He knows what He's doing. I need to review this regularly.

posted by #Debi at 10:18 PM | permalink | 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

|


Hi, I'm Debi. Once in a while I have a thought and I like to write it down before it goes away. This is where I write it.


100 things about me

Contact Debi

my design website


Subscribe to my RSS feed


Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe in Rojo
Add The Scriptorium to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Add to Google

Put a Pin on the Map View my Guestmap
Free Guestmaps by Bravenet.com

Debi Warford's Profile
Debi Warford's Facebook Profile
Create Your Badge

my photos

www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from debiwarford. Make your own badge here.

deep thoughts

links

ale-8-one
babelfish
bible gateway
bob & sheri
body for life
eastern kentucky university
fenian history
sean hannity
lexington celtic assn
g gordon liddy
sneaky peat
ulster project international
universalis (daily office)
vineyard central

blogs

a cup of Rich
alan creech
aled hughes
allison mabley
antony's attic
at home with keith
benediction blogs on
bloggedyblog
blondladybug
brian phillips
bryan sherwood
cliff between the lines
darren rowse
faithmaps
fatblueman
garden escapades
jason evans
jordon cooper
kevin rains
laura ogle
liz creech
matt mcdonald
mike todd
mr. farty
my neighbours are hoors
northwoods contemplative
nowheresville, usa
patrick puckett
peter matthews
peter white
pigeons escaped
publog
rachel kochackis
real live preacher
ricardiblog
rikaitch
scaryduck
where the hell was i?
the wrath of dawn


More weather by AccuWeather®

blog template designed by