Positive Psychology Lecture 5 (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!

在第五堂課，Dr. Tal分享一個關於聖雄甘地的故事：一個女士帶著她的兒子，長途跋涉去見甘地，他們終於到達，她請甘地告訴她的兒子不能吃太多的糖，因為他太胖了也不健康。或許她希望甘地規勸她兒子。甘地要她們母子一個月後再回來。一個月後，這位女士帶著她的兒子，再長途跋涉的回來見甘地，她說：「一個月前我來這裡，請您規勸我兒子不能吃太多的糖，您叫我一個月之後再回來。」甘地說他非常記得她。於是甘地轉向看著她的兒子，並說：「孩子，不要吃太多的糖。」就這樣而已。這位女士很困惑的問甘地：「很抱歉，但是我為什麼要等一個月之後再帶他回來呢？」甘地回答說：「因為在一個月前，我也是吃太多的糖。」

以身作則

我一直沉浸在研究健康、幸福和快樂有一段時間了，這對我來說一直是最有影響力的領悟。只了解信息、了解研究和實驗，這是不夠的。需要將它們應用到我們的日常生活中，這點同樣很重要。我想這是每週交付幸福專案三人組作業，背後最實際的理由。這使得我們可以用行動來應用學習到我們的思想、言語、行為和情緒。當我開始在這個領域時曾脫了節，我樂於幫助別人幸福和健康，但並沒有反省自己是否也幸福和健康。更多時候，我回到鑽牛角尖的老路子，變成下墜的惡性循環。現在我知道，要想營造幸福和健康，就先令自己幸福和健康，因為人們依照你「做」了什麼，而不是依照你「說」了什麼。散播幸福理念的最好辦法，就是將自己過得幸福給人家看。它能創建有傳染性、不斷循環的氛圍，因為感覺開心就是自己開心和給別人開心，幫助了別人也幫助了我們！