16 Dec The Top 10 Insights from 2022 on Living a Meaningful Life
There’s not really much that’s new when it comes to happiness and living a good life.
Great thought leaders from psychology and philosophy, religion and other domains have spouted their wisdom for millenia; and they’ve mostly got it right.
That is, we’ve known for a long time what contributes to happiness and a good life BUT there is something that’s different in recent years. What’s that? Well, we now have a science to really clarify what works, how it works, and how it works best for whom. And that’s worth sharing …
via the Greater Good Magazine team
It’s hard to talk about individual well-being these days without talking about what’s going on in the world, whether that’s the mental health fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, political polarization, or global crises like climate change.
All of us are affected by these problems, and that’s reflected in Greater Good’s 2022 selection of top scientific insights. But this research doesn’t just suggest how we might cope with bad situations. These studies also show us the power of connecting, working together, and being open to other perspectives—and the hope for a less gloomy future. The top insights also give us practical ideas of ways to grow, be kind, and find meaning in our everyday lives.
The final insights were selected by experts on our staff, after soliciting nominations from our network of nearly 400 researchers. We hope they help normalize whatever challenges you may be experiencing and offer a note of optimism for the year ahead.
Appreciating everyday experiences can enhance our sense of meaning in life
Have you ever found yourself caught up in admiring the beauty of a painting or the tranquility of your local nature reserve? Do you get deeply engaged in conversations with other people, or find yourself savoring the little things in life? A 2022 study published in Nature Human Behavior found that appreciating small moments like this is an important way to enhance our sense of meaning.
In one experiment, the researchers asked 474 university students in the U.S. to write about a recent experience they appreciated or a place they visited; afterward, participants were asked to report on their emotions. The researchers found that students who reflected on an experience they appreciated reported a greater sense of meaning compared to students who just reflected on a recent trip. For example, some students wrote about being in nature, moment of peaceful solitude, time with loved ones, or kind strangers.
“Our findings suggest that simply appreciating one’s experiences can foster a rich sense of meaning and perhaps shore up confidence that life has been and will be worth living,” write the researchers.
Prior research has found that meaning in life is driven by having a sense of purpose, feeling like your life matters, and feeling like the world makes sense. But this paper found that appreciating experiences may be another key driver of meaning.
Of course, consciously practicing appreciation may be easier said than done. How do we go about appreciating our everyday lives?
In the paper, one path to appreciation that the researchers discovered was awe. After viewing an emotional montage showcasing the wonders of nature, participants reported greater appreciation of experiences, which led to a higher sense of meaning in life.
Or one additional idea is to simply appreciate the everyday pleasure of thinking. As another 2022 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General found, we consistently underestimate how much we will enjoy the simple task of sitting with our thoughts.
Meaning might seem lofty and unattainable, but this research suggests that we might be able to find it in the small things.
Leaning into uncomfortable feelings could help us achieve bigger life goals
There are many ways we seek comfort in life. We can find it in a warm shower, a fuzzy cuddle with a cat, or a night on the couch with no obligations.
But according to a 2022 study published in Psychological Science, our desire for comfort could be holding us back when it comes to personal growth—and actively seeking out discomfort could help us achieve our goals.
Researchers conducted five experiments in which over 2,100 people were engaging in personal growth activities, such as taking improv classes, journaling about their emotions, or learning about COVID-19, gun violence, or opposing political viewpoints.
In each activity, researchers told some participants that their goal was to feel uncomfortable and awkward, nervous, anxious, or even upset. They were told to push past their comfort zone and know that feeling uncomfortable is a sign that the activity is working.
Ultimately, the researchers found that people who aimed to be uncomfortable were more engaged in their activities, felt more motivated to keep doing them, and believed they made more progress toward their goals compared to those who weren’t seeking out this kind of vulnerability.
For example, improv students spent more time in the spotlight on stage and did wackier things; journalers were more interested in writing another difficult, emotional diary entry in the future; and people were more motivated to read challenging but informative news articles.
“Growing is often uncomfortable; we found that embracing discomfort can be motivating,” write Woolley and Ayelet. “People should seek the discomfort inherent in growth as a sign of progress instead of avoiding it.”
Seeing discomfort as a sign of progress can be motivating, the researchers believe, because we often see awkwardness or fear as the opposite: a sign that there’s a problem and we’re not cut out for the activity.
This research goes to show that we might be judging normal human experiences like nervousness, stress, and discomfort too harshly. While our inclination might be to avoid them, we can become better people and live a richer life if we embrace them…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE