10 Dec Improve your mood by…improving your mood!
For this short blog I chose the following title and short description…
Improve your mood by…improving your mood!
Overcome unhappiness by enhancing happiness!
If these two statements seem self evidentary or overly obvious then I'm sorry but…I believe they need to be STATED, in big bold letters (literally) and explained because there's much of import within this that could well be useful for any and all of us seeking more happiness.
Let's go back a few steps…
…most of us have been taught that if we're experiencing negative emotions we need to address the problem(s) with a view to reducing these negative emotions. This makes sense and seems intuitively obvious; and it's not entirely a crazy idea!
But a recent study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology has supported other reseach that challenges this traditional approach.
For those experiencing negativity or unhappiness or worry or any form of distress, rather than directly targeting and trying to address these forms of misery it might, in fact, be more effective to focus predominately on boosting positive emotions and happiness which in turn, will overwhelm and render irrelevant, much or all of the unpleasant experience.
Specifically, this research highlighted the benefits of savouring and practising gratitude both of which when used appropriately, without direct attempts to reduce negative emotions or worry, significantly improved the user's mood.
So what does this mean?
It means that rather than focusing all our efforts on addressing worrying and distressing thoughts we'd be far better off focusing at least some, if not most of our efforts working towards enhancing positive aspects of our lives and/or attending more to the positive aspects of our lives.
In short, happiness trumps unhappiness! Give it a try and enjoy the benefits : )