Gratitude Paves the Way to Happiness and Success

We have all been told that happiness is about wanting what you have, however that has always created more questions in me than it solved. If I want only what I already have how will I get more? How will I change my life? Perhaps it is more about being grateful for what you have while have a vision for how your life could be even better? "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." - Marcus Cicero Now it seems even science is getting in on the act! This article at Physorg.com, (and yes it's true, for those of you who do not know I am a science geek), is proving the point. Read on for more insight: " It turns out it can be tested. Texas Tech University psychologist Jeff Larsen and Amie McKibban of Wichita State University asked undergraduates to indicate whether they possessed 52 different material items, such as a car, a stereo or a bed.

Their results, which appear in the April issue of the Association for Psychological Science’s journal, Psychological Science, suggest that people can grow accustomed to their possessions and thereby derive less happiness from them.

They also suggest, however, that people can continue to want the things they have and that those who do so can achieve greater happiness.

“Simply having a bunch of things is not the key to happiness,” Larsen said. “Our data show that you also need to appreciate those things you have. It’s also important to keep your desire for things you don’t own in check.”

If the students owned a car, the researchers asked them to rate how much they wanted the car they had. If they didn’t have a car, they were asked to rate how much they wanted one.

Larsen and McKibban then calculated the extent to which people want what they have and have what they want. Their findings show that wanting what you have is not the same as having what you want. While people who have what they want tend to desire those items, the correlation between the two was far from perfect.

The researchers found that people who want more of what they have tend to be happier than those who want less of what they have. However, people who have more of what they want tend to be happier than those who have less of what they want. " Source: Association for Psychological Science I have said it before, if you want to be happy, if you want to achieve a goal in life you must look forward and want it. It all starts with desire, the desire for something achievable. However, while wanting to get away from your current life pattern, while can give you the impetus to get out of the rut, will not sustain your forward motion in life. Get some goals and move ahead toward happiness and success, all the while being truly grateful for what you already have. Gratitude is key, being grateful can at times be difficult, however you can create a new habit of gratitude by allowing yourself to list at least 5 things everyday that you can be truly grateful for and allow those feelings of gratitude to grow and once you have done that continue on to your goals visualisation, it can make an incredible difference to your success and happiness.