Gratitude The Science Of Happiness

21.33 in a, at, being, best, everything, gratitude, happiness, little, message, of, Paid, science, the

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The other day, my mum emailed me this video to watch, because thats how we communicate (Im joking, but were constantly sending links to videos, recipes and clothes I would like haha). I found it really interesting and thought Id share it with you, if you havent seen it already. 

It has been found that one of the greatest influencing factors for our happiness, is how much gratitude we show. But do we really show how grateful we are as much as we think we do? Of course saying thank you in situations shows gratitude. But do we do that without thinking - simply because we have been brought up with the idea of manners. I, personally, do this. The words will just slip out of my mouth without giving it a second thought. Im in no way saying that this is wrong - because having manners is important. But what I am saying, along the terms of this video, is if we begin to take it a step further, past just showing gratitude through manners, we could feel happier. 

I did a little reading on gratitude and what it actually is. I came across Robert Emmons who I think is quite a big guy in the scientific world of gratitude. He basically says that gratitude is being thankful for the good things that come our way and realizing that these big or small gifts of goodness come from those around us. Not only does it make us appreciate things but inspires us to return them. If you want to read more about this Ill link the website here, there are some interesting videos to watch within the article too.

I probably wouldnt have written a post around this topic a few weeks ago, even if it does interest me a lot, as I hadnt tested it out. However, at the beginning of this year, before Id read up on any of this, I decided I was going to write in a little notebook at the end of each day. Not in the style of Dear Diary, but simply writing at least one sentence mentioning something during the day that made me smile, laugh or something Im thankful for. So basically, its like a diary of gratitude. Trust me when I say that I have seen quite a change in my outlook! Yes, I still have my moments or even days where I feel down and things get to me, thats just part of life. But I now find myself searching throughout each day for positive things, rather than dwelling on the negative aspects. Yes, there are days where it is a bit more difficult, but there is always something. Maybe at the end of the year, when I read through the book, Ill test out this experiment and tell any people I mention within the diary.

It would be great if you reading this right now, could grab a pen and paper and write down something that youre grateful for today - it could be absolutely anything small or big. I would love to read some of them in the comments as well, if you would like to share it. And finally, Id just like to say Im grateful for you reading this. I dont care I dont have hundreds of readers because its lovely to just be able to write and have someone read, kind of like a nice friendly chat. Thank you! 

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A Little Message Being The Best At Everything

19.21 in a, at, being, best, everything, little, message, oh, Paid, the, time

So the other day in my English lesson, we where discussing the topic of knowledge and wisdom. What are they? Is one better or more important than the other? Which one would you rather have? As a class we kind of came to the conclusion that they bounce off each other. To be wise you need to have knowledge and gain experience so that you can approach things and having wisdom allows you to make judgement on the knowledge youve learnt.

We talked about the fact that a lot of people dont have a perfect balance between the two, and therefore lacked a quality of the other. For example you may get someone who is very knowledgeable and can list off fact after fact but put them in a situation where they have to use it, like teaching it to a class, and they may not perform to as high a standard as you thought - because they lack the experience. Whereas, someone who may have less knowledge but has delved into what they know and been in a teaching situation before, may be able to deliver the class better but without an abundance of facts.

When I came away from the lesson, I realised that it fits in with a little message I always tell my brother. Some days, my youngest brother will come home from school and will tell me about little bits of his day such-a-body read really well today or such-a-body answered almost all the questions in science today. As with practically everyone, when he sees people around him doing better than him on certain things, it gets to him. Hes 8. Hes already comparing himself to those around him. Thats not how it should be.

But then there will be days he comes home with a big smile on his face to tell us I did really well on the maths test, I got a better mark than such-a-body. I always turn to him and, after saying well done, explain to him that everybody is going to be better than someone at something and worse at something compared to someone else. If everyone all had a nice balance between every single skill and quality out there where would we be? Would there be a lack of competition to better ourselves? Would we be so technologically or medically advanced? Would there be constant uproar? 

In my opinion, I think everyones skills and qualities balance out. Using my brother as an example, he is better at maths than English, but the kid he mentioned who is really good at English may not be so good a maths. Personally, my spelling skills arent that good, but Im not so bad at drawing graphs. Even Albert Einstein had his balance, as we all know he was a genius but as a child he was a slow learner. 

Its like a weighing scales. If you have too many good/bad skills or qualities, there is an imbalance. Like I said, I think everyone balances out, so instead of looking like this ...

 I think its more like this ...

So, it doesnt matter if we arent the best at everything we do. As long as we put effort in a give it a go - thats the important thing. 

Id love to know what you think about this idea. Do you have any little messages about the topic?

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