{"id":8,"date":"2012-11-20T14:58:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T14:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/2012\/11\/20\/happiness-article-remembering-to-savour\/"},"modified":"2015-02-17T17:20:51","modified_gmt":"2015-02-17T17:20:51","slug":"happiness-article-remembering-to-savour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/2012\/11\/20\/happiness-article-remembering-to-savour\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness Article- Remembering to Savour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Happy_Days\"<\/a>This was emailed to me, so posting it for future reference!…<\/p>\n

——————-
\nThere is this puzzle in most Western (and some Eastern) societies
\nthat is really confusing. See if you can figure it out \u2013 we\u2019ll use the
\nUnited States as an example.<\/p>\n

40 years ago\u2026<\/p>\n

The average house was 1000 sq feet, now it\u2019s 2422 sq feet
\nA McDonald\u2019s cheeseburger cost 30 min of wages, now it costs 3 min
\nThere was 1 car for every 2 households, now there are 2 for every 1 household
\nLife expectancy has since gone up by an average of 8 years
\nGDP has since tripled or gone up 8.9 trillion dollars
\nSo we live in bigger homes, make more money, and have longer lives.
\nIf that is the case, how can we explain that in the last 40 years:<\/p>\n

The divorce rate has doubled
\nTeen suicide has tripled
\nRecorded violent crime has quadrupled
\nAnd Depression has increased 10x \u2013 that\u2019s right ten times.
\nIf things are getting better, why are people getting worse? There isn’t a
\none line answer to this paradox, but I\u2019m going to offer a two part theory:
\n(1) We have been focusing on the wrong things to make us happy; and
\n(2) When something is wrong (anxiety, panic, depression) we only practice
\nreducing the negative feelings \u2013 we ignore increasing the positive.<\/p>\n

Guess what? Happiness doesn\u2019t come from just reducing negative feelings.
\nIn other words, if everything \u201cbad\u201d in your life were wiped away, you would
\nnot automatically be incredibly happy. To live a joyous, fulfilled, and
\nmeaningful life, you need to practice positivity. Yes, happiness takes practice.<\/p>\n

One simple practice you can start with is called savoring. If you rush around
\nall day long from the moment you get up to the moment you hit the pillow, you
\nare probably not taking time to savor. Slow down and savor the good stuff.
\nSavoring has been scientifically researched to increase your well-being. Try
\nthe exercise below.<\/p>\n

Exercise: According to researcher, Fred Bryant, there are 4 effective
\nways to savor:<\/p>\n

Basking: Receiving praise and congratulations
\nThanksgiving: Experiencing and expressing gratitude
\nMarveling: Losing yourself in the wonder of the experience
\nLuxuriating: Engaging in the senses fully<\/p>\n

My request of you is that you pick one of these 4 techniques and sit
\ndown to savor right now. Sit down for 5 minutes (if you\u2019re busy,
\neven 2 minutes will do). Think about one pleasant thing that happened
\ntoday (smell, touch, sight, sound, experience) and close your eyes and
\nenjoy it. Reminisce about what you loved about it.<\/p>\n

As humans we are great at doing and moving and pushing through to
\nthe next goal; but we need to also focus on enjoying, savoring, and
\njust \u201cbeing\u201d. Remember, happiness takes practice, so make it part of
\nyour day.<\/p>\n

Love & Light,<\/p>\n

Amelie Chance
\nCertified Coach of Positive Psychology
\n——————-<\/p>\n

Note: Not to sound cynical and I appreciate the advice but I wonder who certified her? Herself?<\/p>\n

Hmm, the art of savouring. It sounds good in theory, but takes effort and a mindset to want to feel good and in the mood to appreciate the good. This is something I’m not naturally comfortable with. I’ll try to savour things more often though if I remember!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This was emailed to me, so posting it for future reference!… ——————- There is this puzzle in most Western (and some Eastern) societies that is really confusing. See if you can figure it out \u2013 we\u2019ll use the United States Continue reading Happiness Article- Remembering to Savour<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice","category-discovery","category-theories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p68SmO-8","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85,"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benkrefta.com\/transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}