03 Jun The simplest message for the greatest reward!
by Dr. Happy (follow on Twitter – HERE)
As a long term student of life and happiness, I can say without hopefully sounding immodest that I've read quite widely in the areas of psychology, philosophy, spirituality, health, wellbeing and more!
And although I might be a slow learner I think I'm starting to realise that all the great thinkers and writers are essentially saying the same things.
This was brought home to me, yet again, at a conference just last week; following my presentation one of the registrants came up to thank me and noted that much of what I'd talked about, under the banner of Positive Psychology, was entirely consistent with themes from one of his favourite books…the Bible!
At other events people have commented that my content, the science of happiness and the discipline of Positive Psychology, is eerily similar to concepts from Buddha, or the Koran or any number of other wise and wordly sources.
And do you know how I respond? Basically, by saying…YES!
Because at the end of the day, happiness and living a great life comes down to just a few simple principles…some might say just one!
From positive psychology, for example, the legendary Chris Peterson once summed up his decades of work by noting, quite simply, that…other people matter.
George Vaillant, another huge figure in health and wellbeing research claimed that all of his findings came down to one thing…love.
Jesus advised to love they neighbour.
The Dalai Lama ties pretty much everything down to compassion.
Even the Beatles famously sung…all you need is love!
And if you think this is all too soft and mushy then what about this…Prof. Adam Grant from the highly esteemed Wharton Business School has recently published findings that strongly support the notion that GIVERS are more successful in the workplace than TAKERS or even those who TRADE (something in return for something else).
Now it's hard to imagine that all these brilliant minds and all the hundreds, if not thousands of research papers could be wrong. I don't think so, anyway.
Which means if we remembered just one thing, each and every day, and practiced just one thing, each and every day, then we'd all be much better off. That one thing? Love…
…love for oneself and love for others; compassion for oneself and compassion for others; forgiveness, caring, thoughtfulness, generosity, giving etcetera!
Engage in just one act of kindness, of love, each and every day and happiness will be yours AND something those around you wil treasure too.
Love, love, love…happiness, satisfaction, connectedness.