This little girl is awesome. (Her name’s Jessica, by the way.) I imagine her to be what my friend Leah would have been like as a little girl, reveling in her unabashed and undeniable awesomeness. I wish we could all feel this way as we started our day!
Standing in front of the mirror Jessica teaches us an important lesson. We don’t ask ourselves what we like in our lives nearly often enough. Indeed, some people seem positively unable to answer this question! In contrast little Jessica is so well versed at it that she seems to not even know what the question is anymore…
click for source
Here’s the surprising part: By engaging in this sort of behaviour, your outlook on life will actually improve! In other words, by tuning in to what you are grateful for (it can even be little things) and making a list of those things daily, you start feeling better about your life. I’m tremendously fascinated by this prospect. Imagine if we could just will ourselves into happiness by taking time to focus on what we like about our lives? It turns out we can!
So here’s the question to ask yourself:
What do I like about my life?
One way to think about it is that what you like is what you are thankful for. If you like you can ask this variant; I happen to think that they are one and the same.
What am I thankful for?
Try either one and see how your start noticing the things that are awesome in your life. Make a habit of writing down at least three items that answer this question each day.T he results that follow just may surprise you!
Resources:
Emmons RA, McCullough ME. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377-389.
Nettle, D. Happiness: The Science Behind Your Smile. (2005). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Another way to engage in this behaviour might be to celebrate all the things you (and other people love). For some gratitude related reading, try: The book of Awesome.
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This is hilarious! I played the clip for Molly (she’s six years old today!) (& um, she agrees this would be a lot like Leah as a little girl). We watched it over and over again. I asked her the questions you posted and we had a nice conversation about things we’re thankful for. She told me she’s thankful for our family then proceeded to list all of us in order of who she loves the most. The dog was first. So, yeah.
Thanks for the comment, Brooke. I’m sure videos of Molly would be equally engaging. And at six I recall be pretty thankful for animals too… I’m sure it’ll pass
Um, this little girl is awesome. And I can definitely see the similarities! Especially the non-stop talking…..!