Elle

Elle Randall

8/17/14

The Happiness Project Trio

Homework 2 part 2: Positive Psychology Lecture 5

            In lecture 5, Dr. Tal shares a story about Mahatma Gandhi: A woman travels a many miles with her son to see Gandhi, and when they finally reach him, she asks him to please tell her son to not eat too much sugar, because he was gaining too much weight and becoming unhealthy. Maybe she was hoping for Gandhi to talk some sense into her son. Gandhi asks the lady to return with her son in a month’s time. A month later, the lady and her son travel again for many miles to see Gandhi. When they reach him, she says” I was here a month ago, and I asked you to tell my son to not eat too much sugar, and you told me to come back in a month.” Gandhi says that he remembers her very well. Then Gandhi turns to look at her son and says “Son, don’t eat too much sugar.” And that was it. The woman was a bit perplexed and asked him “I’m sorry, but why did I have to bring him back after a month for that?” Gandhi replied: “Because a month ago, I was eating too much sugar.”

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

            I’ve been immersed in the study of health, wellness, and happiness for some time now, and this has been the most impactful insight for me. It’s not enough to just know this information; to know the studies and experiments. It is just as important to apply them to our daily lives. I guess this is the whole reason behind The Happiness Project Trio’s weekly homework. It is so that we can actively apply everything we are learning to our thoughts, words, actions, and emotions. This was where the disconnect was when I first started out in this field. I was set on helping others be happy and healthy, but I did not reflect on whether I was happy and healthy.  More often that not, I was up to my old ways of ruminating and thinking myself into a downward spiral. Now I know, in order to create happy, healthy people is to be happy and healthy yourself, because people do what you DO, not what you SAY.  The best way to spread happiness is to work on your own happiness. It creates a contagious and constant cycle, because feeling good is good for us and good for others; helping others also helps us!