Positivity: Post #2--Not Just Happiness

 Positivity is not just another form of happiness.
a.    Happiness is vague and difficult to quantify.

b.    Positivity—based on Frederickson’s research— emerges primarily from any one of ten positive emotions: Joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love (love is the most frequently experienced form of positivity).
c.    Positive or negative emotions are dependent on how you think. If you interpret events and ideas as either positive or negative, they change how you think and feel.
d.    Positivity can lead to a life that flourishes (is joyful, engaged, and driven by purpose) and has an effect on good health, prosperity and openness to the world. On the other hand, negativity can lead to a life in languish (is sad, disengaged, and without verve or direction) and has a pervasively negative effect on life.
e.    Introducing the Core Truths about Positivity: The Broaden and Build Theory
i.    Broaden: Positivity broadens and opens up our hearts and minds, allowing us to be more creative and receptive to new ideas.
ii.    Build: This broadening of heart and mind, which positive emotions produce, prepares us to build a good future: To learn, to change, to become someone new.

Positivity Builds Your Best Future by Building:
a.    Psychological strengths. People get more resilient, optimistic and purpose driven.
b.    Social connections. Positivity and gratitude strengthen, energize and reinvigorate relationships. More friends (and stronger ones) emerge, divorce decreases, and collaboration abounds.
c.    Good health. Positivity lowers stress hormones, builds bond-related hormones, enhances immune functioning, and results in less illness.
i.    Hugs have an effect on your mood and happiness.
ii.    Higher mood-elevating and lowering-stress hormones occur when husbands and wives (and partners) “…have learned to touch their partners’ head, neck and shoulders in loving ways.”
d.    Resilience—the ability to bounce back after setbacks.
i.    Build resilience by increasing a higher positive ratio
1.    Doing things that you love to do and that calm down your brain and heart
2.    Meditating, walking, exercising, being with friends, hugging someone!

Positivity: Post#1--Overview

Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the 3-to-1 Ratio That Will Change Your Life by Barbara Frederickson, Ph.D. (Three Rivers Press, 2009), reviewed by Steve Gladis, Ph.D. 
Overview: First and foremost, positivity makes you feel good and gives you an injection of natural hormones that makes you both happier and healthier at the same time. Those same natural chemicals ushered in by positivity broaden and expand your mind, making it more adaptable and receptive. Positivity then helps reduce stress, allowing you to build out significant areas of your mind and your life because you stay open and receptive to life’s opportunities—not closed down by fear, anger, or depression. It also builds your psychological immune system—resilience—the ability to bounce back from negativity that life naturally brings. The positivity ratio of 3:1 (Losada’s Line) offers us a concrete goal to set a path toward thriving, not just surviving. This book is one you’ll want to read cover to cover and give to your best friend, relative or coworker.