According to the wonderful science of positive psychology happiness is many things but primary, among the key drivers of happiness, is gratitude.

And according to my friend Lionel Ketchian, gratitude is attitude - I hope you enjoy Lionel’s (as always) simple but profound words…

Thanksgiving is over and many people got together with family and friends to share a great meal, and hopefully, share some good times. The meaning of Thanksgiving is giving thanks for what we have. We are talking about gratitude. Gratitude is an attitude of happiness. It is one of the first things we need to experience in order to feel happy. Gratitude is the precursor to happiness. It is not possible to be grateful and be unhappy at the same time. If you want to be happy…be grateful.

How do you do it? You can do it by finding something to be grateful for, it could be anything. It could be a loved one or something about your health. The fact that you can see, or anything else that comes to mind. Think about how fortunate you are to have all this in your life. You automatically start to feel better than you did before. This positive change of attitude is the result of your gratitude.

It seems to be true that unless we are grateful for what we have got, we really can’t enjoy it. By being grateful we are truly able to enjoy the special things and even those common things we take for granted. Unless we appreciate something we do not really have it, or make the best use of it. Being thankful puts us in a better relationship with life.

Gratitude is your calculator, and you become your own accountant. When you count on gratitude your happiness lies in the balance. It allows you to take stock of what you do have. You can see how things have moved out of your minus column into your plus column. You feel wealthier when you can account for what you have, instead of always thinking about what you don’t have. Being grateful ads value in your life because you are taking inventory of what you do have. Unless you are aware of what you have; it has no value.

Being grateful for what you do have is what most people think of doing. You can also be grateful for the many negative things you do not have. It could be poverty, illness and so many other things that you are fortunate not to have.

When I do not have something that I would like in my life, I respond with gratitude and act as though I already have it. Gratitude acts like a magnet in attracting those things to me. Gratitude helps you realize it. It’s not always my job to make things happen; I can get out of my own way and just let it happen. I a preference for what I want and I ask for it with positive expectancy and act with faith that I have it. This works well for me. If it does not happen, I don’t get upset, I change something or practice being patience. If it still does not happen, it may not be meant for me right now, or I may realize I may be better off without it.

Be selfish, do something for yourself by doing something good for someone else. If you are looking for happiness, this may be a good place to start. If you bring happiness to others, you can also find it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said “You cannot pour happiness on others without getting a few drops on yourself.” If you are happy to begin with that’s great, now you can share it with others and it will intensify within you.

Gratitude will enable you to experience the best things in your life. It has been said that giving is receiving. If you crave love, give love. You will become loving, and you will have love in your life. I trust you will elevate yourself to a higher altitude, and profit from an attitude of gratitude. I wish you and your family Happy Holidays.

BE HAPPY ZONE by Lionel Ketchian. Published in the Fairfield Citizen-News on November 19, 2008.

From Ridgecress CA comes an article about financial security and it’s relationship with happiness. We know from the positive psychology research that the link between money and happiness is weak; this short piece sums up the findings quite nicely and succinctly. To read more - click here

From “The Week” comes an interesting article titled “Holding on to happiness in hard times” but it covers much, much more than that. In a nice summary of the positive psychology and happiness science, this article answers questions such as what makes us happy, what’s the relationship between money and happiness, can we control happiness, an dcan we have more of it! To read more - click here

That’s it for now, but subscribe to my RSS feed (its free!) to ensure you never miss out on a blog posting or positive psychology/happiness story.

The science of positive psychology suggests that happiness might only be a letter away!

The secret to happiness may be in expressive writing; specifically, writing letters to people showing gratitude. Steven Toepfer, an assistant professor of family and consumer studies at Kent State University, conducted a study to determine what would make people feel happier, especially in a consumer-oriented culture in which things are supposed to bring us joy.

He had students write one letter every two weeks for a six-week period to people who had had a positive influence on their lives. The letters had to be positive, include some insight and reflection, didn’t venture into trivial waters, and expressed great appreciation. After each letter was written, the students took a survey that gauged their mood, their satisfaction with life, and their feelings of gratitude and happiness.

According to Toepfer, the students’ levels of happiness increased after each letter, and 75% of them said they wanted to keep writing the letters, even when the study was finished.

“The most powerful thing in our lives is our social network,” said Toepfer in a news release

For the complete LA Times article - click here

This is what we do here at The Happiness Institute - we help individuals, teams and organisations to apply the principles of positive psychology often, to boost morale, engagement, productivity and other key variables in the workplace.

And we’re not the only ones doing it; check out this interesting “happiness at work” study - click here

From http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2008/11/24/Employment_engagement_is_profitable/UPI-69391227503459

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Nov. 24 (UPI) — Employee engagement, which leads to unusually effective employee behavior, subsequently reflects in organizational success, U.S. researchers suggest.

William H. Macey and Benjamin Schneider said employee engagement refers to the positive feelings employees have about their job as well as the motivation and effort they put into their work.

The study authors contend that employees will feel — and act — engaged when their employer creates conditions that permit them to do so. The key condition for feeling engaged is fair treatment, which creates a feeling of trust and, in turn, feeling safe to be engaged.

Some people confuse engagement with satisfaction and/or commitment and consider retention and turnover to be indicators of engagement, the researchers said.

However, Macey and Schneider said employee engagement concerns both feelings of engagement, focus and enthusiasm, as well as engagement behavior, proactivity and persistence.

Engagement is not synonymous with satisfaction. Engagement connotes energy and not satiation, while satisfaction connotes satiation and contentment but not energy.

The authors wrote in the journal Industrial and Organizational Psychology that employees come to work ready to be engaged, and the challenge for organizations is to create conditions that will release that energy.

USA Today includes an article on how giving thanks can improve your health and bring you more happiness - click here

Something called pressdemocrat.com writes about how you can apply the principles of positive psychology to boost your happiness - click here

The Arizone Central focuses on the gratitude factor within positive psychology and how it can also improve health and happiness and relationships - click here

And stay in touch, because we’ll be bringing you more updates on all articles and news that’s relevant to happiness and positive psychology.

Recent research by Beerman and colleagues published in the Journal of Positive Psychology suggests that curiosity is one of five strengths closely related to life satisfaction and happiness (the other four are gratitude, optimism, zest and the ability to love and be loved).

To read an interesting happiness-related article, from Positive Psychology News Daily - click here

Quick, check out this from boston.com…and do it fast!

QUICK, READ THIS paragraph out loud as fast as you can! Feel better? You should, if a team of Princeton and Harvard psychologists is right. Motivated by the observation that euphoria is often accompanied by “racing thoughts” among manic individuals, the psychologists conducted a series of experiments - including one that had people narrate the famous “Job Switching” episode of “I Love Lucy,” at fast or slow playback speeds - to test whether being forced to think faster results in a more positive mood. Not only was thinking faster significantly associated with positive mood, but there was some evidence that thinking faster inflated self-esteem and made it harder for people to stop talking. Other research by the authors even found that thinking fast about ostensibly depressing things can improve mood too. The authors conclude that “experiences that can succeed in making us think fast may have desirable consequences for affect (and, perhaps, for energy and self-confidence). In a world where we often could use an extra boost to our mood, simple manipulations of thought speed may have valuable practical importance.”

Pronin, E. et al., “Psychological Effects of Thought Acceleration,” Emotion (October 2008).

The Wall Street Journal reflects on what America can learn from Bhutan’s focus on Gross National Happiness (as opposed to GDP). To read more - click here

Marie Claire magazine compares happiness ratings from the UK with those of other European countries - click here

With references to positive psychology and optimism the Australian argues that positive thinking will help the economy - click here

And don’t forget to let us know if you’re aware of any positive psychology or happiness stories in which our readers might be interested.

Click here for an interesting article describing a positive psychology approach (with three A’s) to handling conflict

Can positive psychology teach us how to enjoy happiness in a queue? Click here to find out

Positive Psychology has always advocated gratitude as a path to happiness; for 12 ways to be thankful - click here

I hope you enjoy reading these articles and I encourage you to let me/us know your thoughts about these stories and more generally, about happiness and positive psychology.