Joy, Happiness, & Gratitude
Everyone needs to experience joy, happiness, and gratitude in their lives. There is no better wish for anyone in your life or for anyone you meet. Joy, Happiness, and Gratitude are gifts of emotion you give yourself and others.
As Brené Brown writes in "Atlas of the Heart," Joy is a short, highly emotional, and soulful connection that we experience that allows us to feel other good mood emotions such as gratitude and happiness.
Elderly woman laughing
Happiness is happy moments that can lead us to joy and gratitude. These moments occur in our daily experiences such as holding hands with a loved one and fully experiencing the joy of the contact.
Research on the emotional effects of gratitude tells us that it assists our mental well-being, our creativity, and our appreciation of what is of value in our life.
Young woman laughing
How Do We Get to the Wondrous Benefits of Joy, Happiness, and Gratitude?
First, you have to notice the many moments of JOY in your life that appear everywhere. Noticing joy requires seeing, feeling, and appreciating the joy of a single breath, as in the warmth of the sun on your skin, the enjoyment of the first bite of a meal, taking a shower and enjoying the body's contact with water, and walking on a nice day and taking time to enjoy the weather.
Research writes that HAPPINESS is difficult to define. Happiness differs from joy in that it is a trait. We pursue happiness in the moment but it does not always lead to deeper joy or spiritual connection. Happiness is a daily practice of recalling positive experiences in detail and seeking joyful experiences in real-time and expressing gratitude.
Lighted sign that says “Enjoy the little things”.
GRATITUDE is an emotion and physically, emotionally, and mentally good for us. Research tells us that gratitude improves our sleep, creativity, decision-making skills, and decreases our blood pressure, and so on. Gratitude is celebrating and appreciating the joy and happiness of what we value in our lives. As Brené Brown writes "...an attitude of gratitude," is a practice. It's tangible. An attitude is a way of thinking; a practice is a way of doing, trying, failing, and trying again."