Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

Are you an adult who still believes in fairy tales? Like the ones that say we will fall in love with the romantic partner of our dreams and live happily ever after. It’s hard not to think this way. Books, movies, and even some TV shows keep the fairy tale going. They entertain us with dramas of romantic partners who overcome some sort of obstacle to their love.

There’s an interesting study in the October issue of Personality and Social Psychology. Researchers have “discovered” what makes people happily married. It’s when the number of positive experiences with their spouse is roughly three times the number of negative encounters in day-to-day life.

You’re ready to take action. You’re ready to make a change you think will improve your life. But how do you know if that change will actually make you happier?

In past articles I encouraged you to evaluate your own emotional well-being by taking my General Inventory of Life Satisfaction (GILS). This week I want to show how to use the results of your self-assessment to move toward achieving real and lasting happiness, contentment and satisfaction with life.

Many psychology professors who are recognized as experts on happiness refer to a set point for happiness. They believe this set point imposes an upper limit on our ability to find real and lasting emotional well-being.

Training to be a life coach, I learned that for most coaches the first step in personal strategic planning is encouraging a person to clarify his or her set of core values. Once these values are clarified, you next develop a set of goals based on those values.

A little more than 10 years ago, psychologists who work in American universities began offering advice on how to enhance emotional well-being. Virtually all of these professors maintain that the most reliable method for increasing happiness, contentment and satisfaction with life consists of making changes in the way we look at the world. They believe that cultivating a positive attitude, developing a sense of gratitude and maintaining a sense of optimism are all we can do to achieve and maintain emotional well-being.

Most overweight people eat to overcome, diffuse or “kill” certain uncomfortable feelings. We live in stressful times and high stress generates uncomfortable feelings. But very few of us have been taught effective skills to manage those feelings. So we handle them the best way we can — we eat.

As a practicing clinical psychologist I am often astounded by how little insight people have into their emotions. For many, emotions are inexplicable and somewhat mysterious aspects of human nature. Some believe their emotions should be ignored. Others assume that by following their feelings they will find happiness, contentment and satisfaction with life.

Do you have an Attitude of Gratitude? You should. Let me tell you why.