Gratitude
From the Latin gratus meaning “pleasing”.
I meant to say something about these in the episode, but I didn’t. Harvard University, which for the most part is not about knowledge, and more about networking (look at the number of US politicians who are really really dumb and went to Harvard). They do some cool studies though. From one of those, I got this list of question about gratitude, if one is struggling to come up with something. I don’t like the Social Media question, but I’m not everyone, and it may help.
- What happened today that was good?
- What am I taking for granted that I can be thankful for?
- Which people in my life am I grateful for?
- What is the last book I read or movie, show, or social media clip I saw that I really appreciated, and why?
- What am I most looking forward to this week, month, and year, and why?
- What is the kindest thing someone has said or done lately?
I mentioned Sonja Lyubomirsky (holy hell that’s a horribly designed site, but fun studies she’s done, and with the exception of a ridiculous amount of “also”s in the abstract of some of these studies, seem pretty good). Props to her. One could even say that I’m pretty grateful she exists.
Spread the word. It might even make you live longer.
Don’t forget, if the ambient noise (like the dog barking today) annoy you, and you just want the bell with a built in timer, I made a blog post that has just the audio file.