Why be happy?

Still giving out "awards" and keeping up on your gratitude journal? I know I am and it feels awesome!

So now that I have given you a few things to get you started let's talk about WHY being positive and happy is so gosh darn important!

First, let's talk about why negativity is important. We all can guess why negativity is so important, right? It keeps us safe. Emotional researchers say that we have probably been conditioned this way through evolution. The caveman (or cavewoman) who scanned their environment for potential threats and then felt negative emotions the most intense, were able to react. Thus, our ancestors that had the most adrenaline rush at the sight of a saber-toothed tiger lived long enough to pro-create. Fun stuff, huh! But today in our modern world, fear serves us less and less. Scanning our environment for negative things makes survival harder, not easier.

When I first heard this I thought "no! it's still important to be on the lookout for bad things! if I don't, I won't be prepared when they happen! I have to imagine what bad things will happen so I can think about how to best react!". Then I read something that changed how I felt about negative scanning. In Martin E. P. Seligmens book "Authentic Happiness". He poses this question. If you are constantly on the lookout for negativity (for example you are worried you might get sick) are you really more prepared if it does come into reality? Martin says the truth is no matter how much you think about it, you have no idea how you would really react to something until you're in it. He even did extensive controlled studies where he proves that people who think negatively, always on guard, are actually less resilient to adversity and give up easier. Man! So, wondering what I would do, if, per say, I got cancer makes me less prepared not more. Negativity has it's place when threat is real and imminent. It can cause you to act appropriately. But wondering about every scenario and what you can do it about it is pretty futile.

So now that we know about negativity and it's place, what about Positivity? In our modern life there is almost nothing that positivity can't make even better, if not save all together.

1. Positivity feels good. And when we feel good we are better at everything we do! Athletes perform better, Sales people sell more, kids do better in school etc. There's studies upon studies as well as personal accounts you can read to back this all up.
2. 90% of diseases stem from stress. Shall I say that again? 90% of diseases stem from stress. When you go to the Dr. and he says avoid stress at all cost until you're better, he's not joking. But reduction of stress is only half the story. You have feel the good feelings too! You can't feel stress and gratitude at the same time now can you?
3. Positivity broadens our minds from Me and I, to We and Us. And from Us and Them to Everyone. This is based on work done by Barbara Fredrickson in her book "Positivity". You begin to view the world as your family and treat them as such. That's the kind of world I want to live in!
4. Happy people live longer, and with better quality of life. (The Nun Study)
5. Positive people are infinitely better at problem solving. This is also based on work by Barbara Fredrickson. so the next time you have that impossible problem at work, get up and walk over to a co-worker and tell a few jokes! Just laugh and laugh until your sides hurt, then come back to your problem and see if it's really all that impossible now. You will definitely feel more open to solutions instead of what the problem is.
6. People who are positive get more promotions and more pay raises. I always thought people who had more money were happier, but maybe it's the other way around. Maybe people who have more money, have more because they were already happy! So be grateful for all that you have right this very second and let it show. Higher ups will definitely notice.
7. Positive people are more resilient. One of the only things we can count on in life is the consistency of change. Sometimes things will change for the better, sometimes for the worse. But if you have already learned how to be habitually happy you won't feel the roller coaster of life as acutely. Good things will happen and you will be able to think "that's awesome! but I was already happy." And when adversity strikes you'll be able to think "that sucks, but I'm still a happy on the inside". You can choose to be happy no matter what!
8. Marriages are more likely to succeed when couples think more positive things about their spouse than negative. At about a 5/1 ratio. This is based on work by John Gottman, a marriage counselor in the for-front of his field who can predict which couples will stay together by 95% accuracy! http://www.gottman.com/

I could add more and more to this list but I think I covered some of the major ones. Who wouldn't want this? Do you know anyone who wants to make less money, have failed marriages and feel all around crappy? I don't. Not only is positive thinking good for you personally, I feel like it's our social duty. This is one of the many reasons I started a blog on happiness. To get the word out! Not only do I need to work more on my own positivity I want to let others know why they should be to. Why we all should try to be happy for no reason at all.

Love you all!

Janae

P.S. today I'm grateful for a friend who told me a year ago, what the crap a blog is and why it would be fun to have one. You know who you are girlie, and thanks a million!