Think of someone in your life who has some good news. Maybe it’s already been acknowledged on a small scale or even in a bigger way. Perhaps it happened a while back and you didn’t get to make a big enough deal out of it at the time.
Why not celebrate it again! Not in a big way but just with an email message restating your happiness for them. If you missed it, think of something to wow them. It’s never too late!
Believe it or not, there is scientific research behind this gesture on your part. We all know how to share the special occasions in each other’s lives – engagements, births, promotions, marriage. Research suggests that when we share in others’ good fortune, it actually impacts our own well-being, and that the benefits of sharing our good fortune can extend beyond the well-being derived from the event itself!
Even more interesting is the power of “capitalization”: Studies have also concluded that amplifying the pleasure of a good situation that involves others is actually contributing to an upward spiral effect of positive emotion that boosts happiness.
So go ahead and share your own good news, big or small, with others, and be sure to capitalize on their good stuff as well.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more, it turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”
- Melody Beattie