I have a question for you.

What’s make a good life?

Is it healthy food, cozy home and comfortable clothing? or is it having good career perspective and high-paying job? or is it something like connecting with family and friends?

And you don’t need to be genius to understands that you need all these things to live a good life.

But do you really think all these things are sufficient enough to lead a better life? 

Or is there something more to make your life worthy to live?

See, what is mentioned above like good food, cozy home, family and money are basic human needs to survive. But you can enjoy all these things only when you are in good mental status.

So, yes, apart from fulfilling basic needs you must be in a good state of mind to make life worthy to live.

And how this is possible?

It is possible with the power of “positive psychology”.

More recently, theory and research have proven the application of positive psychology to create healthy and thriving life for the self and others.

Concept of positive psychology

Growing research supports the view that positive emotions are associated with numerous benefits related to health, work, family, and economic status.

In line with this, positive psychology focuses on shifting one’s perspective on positive happenings, positive human traits and relationships that helps to flourish and live at best. 

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth-living. It recognizes happiness and well-being as “essential human skills”.

It mainly focuses on positive life experiences (like joy, happiness, inspiration and love), positive states and traits (like gratitude, resilience, compassion), positive relationships  and positive institutions (Applying positive principles).

Shifting your focus from the negative symptoms to the brighter aspects of life restores the mental balance that you need to sustain a healthy life.

Impact of positive psychology 

When you provide a great attention to positive happenings, you experience more of positive emotions like joy, interest, and enthusiasm. 

When you are in the positive frame of mind, you allow yourself to get engage in your social environment by exploring new objects, people or situation and open up to new possibilities. Obviously, when you have a sense of hope, you become goal-oriented. Being optimistic, you’re better able to learn and build on your skills that help to develop strengths and talents. 

Also Check : Embracing Optimism For Mental Well-being

By the logic of positive perspective, building habits that encourage you to think and feel more positive make you more satisfied.

When you learn to savor every positive moment, you get along better with others that help to build healthy relationships. 

Happiness, character strengths and good social relationships make a good life.

In short, in addition to just “feeling good”, the experience of positive emotions broadens your mind, increases your creativity, and makes you more resourceful and resilient. This positively affects other areas of your life including life satisfaction, work productivity, social connectedness and more.

So, positive psychology focuses on what is going “right” and cultivate ways to boost your strength and subsequently, help you to truly flourish and live a meaningful life. 

Putting this in context, you move beyond from survive to flourish.

According to positive psychology in order to thrive i.e. to grow, develop, or be successful, you must have three positive emotional experiences for every one negative emotional experience. 

Working on your strength

Each one of us is different, and that is what make us unique too. Wisdom and knowledge (creativity, curiosity, judgement, open-mindedness, love for learning, perspective), courage (bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest), humanity (capacity to love, kindness), justice (teamwork, fairness, leadership), temperance (forgiveness, modesty, self-regulation), transcendence (gratitude, hope, humor, appreciation)  are some of the core strength of human goodness. 

Identifying and working on your strength reinforces the idea of cultivating good qualities, thus providing a starting point for positive change.

Applying positive psychology with the best of intentions helps to explore the present and the future to find better ways of living

and is a base for wider success.

Does this means positive psychology is a great tool to live your dream life?

No…certainty not

Undoubtfully, life is full of challenges and the struggle is real. Positive psychology never denies the distressing or unpleasant aspects of life. In fact, negative human experiences play an important role in human development, coping and creativity. 

But what positive psychology seeks is utilizing the benefits of positive emotions, positive experiences and human strengths for the positive evaluation of life to improve outcomes related to work, relationships, and health. At the same time, positive psychology promotes resiliency i.e. the process of positive adaptation in the context of adversity or risk and cope with life’s challenges and confers a sense of mastery over one’s life.

Also Check : Cultivating Positive Emotions To Optimise Mental Health

Sometimes we forget the way back to feeling positive. It’s time to lead us back to a happier emotional place. Positive emotions are worth cultivating as a means to achieve psychological growth and improved well-being.

Disclaimer 

Mediclin Brain Health’s content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.