An Easy Way To Feel Happier

 

If you’ve been reading my weekly blogs for a while, you know I’ve talked about the power of positive thinking. 

This piece is about an easy way for you to feel happier. This is from researchers at the University of Idaho. In this study, they had college students thinking kind thoughts about the people they passed when they were walking around. They did this for just 12-minutes.

These 12-minute folks reported being happier. They also reported having a lower level of anxiety and greater empathy. As the lead researcher, Dawn M. Sweet, PhD said doing this makes people feel connected which can lower stress and translates into improved well-being. 

While the researchers didn’t measure if there was an impact on the people who were receiving these kind thoughts, from my research and experience I know that it was affecting them even though it might have been fleetingly. So just imagine, if you were walking by 10 or 15 people who were all sending you kind thoughts, how this could change the way you feel. 

So…next time you go for a walk or when you’re driving your car, simply send out kind thoughts to the people you’re walking by or the cars you’re passing on the road. In this time of the coronavirus, being happier is something that we should all cherish and the more positive and kinder we are the better off everyone will be!

(Reported Prevention, September 2019)