Greetings!
"Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you."
-Bumper sticker
When Dr. Marty Seligman was president of the American Psychological Association in 1998, he got to determine what issue psychologists would concentrate on that year. He decided that since the profession had always focused on what could go wrong for people, why not make a 180-degree shift, and really study what could go right? The fascinating results of that year of discovery became the foundation of Dr. Seligman's new direction. He is now recognized as the founder of Positive Psychology, an entirely new branch of psychology.
His years of research revealed that our happiness is not determined by how much money we have, our level of education, our IQ, or our age. In fact, older people almost always rated as being happier than younger adults.
What did consistently make us happy were three key elements:
- Our Faith
- Our Friends
- A Meaningful Life
"Faith" does not necessarily mean "religion." Rather, it's the measure of our spirituality -- choosing to believe in a loving, positive essence that reverberates through, around and above us. It's not how we act for an hour on Friday night or Sunday morning, it's how we act and who we are when we think no one is looking. By the way -- spiritual people automatically become very accurate psychics. That's just how it works.
We all have different levels of friends, from the more casual acquaintances we run into occasionally to our sacred inner sanctum of "soul friends." These are the precious few to laugh and cry with; with whom we share our deepest fears and most lofty dreams, those who will celebrate and protect us and keep our hearts safe in their loving embrace. May you cultivate a handful of these in your life by being one!
And finally, having a meaningful life means doing the things that you're passionate about because you know, in your heart, you're making the world a better place by doing them. While some people experience "setbacks," you experience "opportunities" and "valuable lessons." You see sacred meaning in the most mundane things, and constantly express gratitude for the many blessings in your life.
Have fun checking out the tests, then make a commitment to yourself to cultivate happiness. I promise you'll be happy you did!
Hugs,
Happy Medium Jonna Rae
"I see dead people so you don't have to!"
JonnaRae@PSIStudies.com
www.JonnaRae.com
