23 Nov Happiness is…finding an alternative to whingeing
Happiness is looking for positives but also facing up to the cold hard realities…in a constructive way.
Happiness isn’t always or all about positives. Happy people do actively focus on and appreciate positives but they’re also realistic enough to know that it’s important to realise life is not perfect, problems exist, and they have to be dealt with.
This week, I’ve done a series of radio interviews on whingeing! And it’s forced me to think about the application of positive psychology principles to this issue that many of us face all too commonly. And the good news is that what I know about happiness and happy people, and what I know about positive psychology coaching and finding solutions, is very relevant here and has made it very easy for me to come up with the following tips…
- by all means focus on positives but don’t forget also to face up to the cold hard realities of life
- when you do face up to the cold hard realities don’t just focus on what’s wrong but ask also what’s right and what’s good
- contemplate what you can learn from the situation
- keep things in perspective
- and most of all, ask yourself what you can do about things; what others can do; and/or how you can make the situation better?
In short, there’s nothing inherently wrong with identifying when something’s wrong; in fact it’s a good thing to do…but only if the focus quickly shifts to affirmative action and what a great outcome would look like; what can bring about this great outcome; and how to get started as soon as possible!
As always, we love reading your thoughts so let us know how you deal with whingeing and/or how you turn negatives into positives, both personally and in others (you can post your comments on our FACEBOOK PAGE)