pantsfarm

A while ago I read The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. Actually not that long ago, I finished it a little before the beginning of November.

Today, I read an article online titled “Happiness 101“.

One thing I noticed while reading today, was a common suggestion between the two for a way to improve your subjective well being. They both advocate introducing more gratitude into your life. Schwartz does so on the grounds that people do not spend enough time appreciating the positive outcomes of their choices. The NYTimes article doesn’t really make specific claims about gratitude’s role in happiness (subjective well being, whatever), but it does identify it as a building block of this positive psychology stuff.

When I finished The Paradox of Choice I started keeping a gratitude journal. I forget Schwartz’s exact recommendation but it was something like “every day write down five things you’re grateful for.” I modified this to something I thought more manageable at the time (one thing) and have been slowly ramping up the number as I get progressively more comfortable with larger numbers. I’ve not yet hit five though. And admittedly, I did start out feeling kind of silly but now it’s just a simple little addition to my morning routine as I drink my hot beverage du jour.

I think it’s a pretty interesting idea. I like to think doing this has had a positive impact on how I think I’m doing (good these days) compared to how I had been feeling in the past (not as good), but of course, I can’t attribute any change over such a recent period to this one change alone. I’ve had a lot of pretty major life changes in the last few months any one of which could account for my change in mental state.

Even so, I support this gratitude journal thing. It’s easy, and if it makes any positive difference at all, then I’d say it’s well worth it. Other people should try it out, maybe it’ll improve their subjective well being too.