I’ve read a lot of books about happiness, but this little article on the Huffington Post really caught my attention with this simple and useful infographic. Click through on the link to the Huffington Post in that sentence to find the links to the studies backing the creation of this image.
Nice, huh?
Good to see how you can easily boost happiness simply by smiling (warning: the smiles have to be authentic – artificial smiles don’t work!) And I am really struck by the power of gratitude, and by performing acts of kindness.
So, how about just taking those three, and trying them out for the next few days. Start a gratitude journal and write in once a day, maybe preferably at night before bedtime……just list, and write a sentence or two about, whatever you experienced today that you feel grateful for, or write about who you are grateful to, and why. Set out each day to perform at least one act of kindness, or, even better, see if you can speak kindly and act kindly all day long. Finally, play some music which makes you smile, or look at some photos which make you smile, or delve into your memory banks for moments in your life which made you smile.
Heroes Not Zombies 
From The Book of Proverbs, confirming the findings on happiness in The Huffington Post!
‘A person finds joy in giving an apt reply and how good is a timely word.’
‘Gold there is, and in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.’
‘From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.’
[…] referred to the graphic below in a previous post about happiness, but let’s take another […]