{"id":52805,"date":"2013-12-06T12:19:21","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T17:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=52805"},"modified":"2013-12-05T13:23:28","modified_gmt":"2013-12-05T18:23:28","slug":"how-to-be-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=52805","title":{"rendered":"How to Be Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Julie Watson, INALJ Pennsylvania<\/a> Head Editor<\/em><\/p>\n

How to Be Happy<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"julie_watson\"<\/a>Student loan debt. A tight job market. Rejection letters. Uncertainty. Stress. Worry. Fed-up. Frustrated.<\/p>\n

Happy?<\/p>\n

No, \u201chappy\u201d is not a word often associated with job-seekers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you dream of the day when you land your dream job (or let\u2019s face it, any job)? That will be the day you\u2019re happy, right?<\/p>\n

Wrong. Research shows that the path to happiness is not accumulating wealth or possessions, finding the perfect mate, sculpting the \u201cideal\u201d body, or landing that dream job. These things may make you temporarily happy (elated even!), but they will not bring you lasting happiness.<\/p>\n

So what will?<\/p>\n

There are plenty of books, magazine and journal articles, blog postings, and internet videos dedicated to the pursuit of happiness. Science, spirituality, and popular culture all have things to say about it. I want to share what works for me.<\/p>\n

Gratitude.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This time of year, we set aside a few days to give thanks. \u00a0This is not enough! Gratitude, when approached as a daily practice can bring a pervading sense of happiness. For 40 days, take a few moments each day to record what you are thankful for. Usually for me, it\u2019s the simple things: a sunny afternoon walk, my dog wagging her tail when I return home, a great conversation with a friend, a wonderful meal. There are many ways to practice gratitude. You can write in a journal, make a gratitude jar, or use social media (see link below for more ideas). At the end of 40 days, you\u2019ll find yourself automatically appreciating what you have (instead of feeling burdened by what you lack), and you\u2019ll feel a greater overall sense of happiness. It may be a subtle change at first. Keep with the intention of gratitude and over time you\u2019ll see how powerful its effect can be.\"\"<\/p>\n

In your gratitude practice, remember to include things related to your job search. Even if you\u2019ve had no job offers, there are little successes along the way. Interviews, positive feedback, support from others, even acknowledgement that your application was received can become beacons of light leading you towards happiness in the here and now.<\/p>\n

Gratitude practice ideas: 10 simple gratitude projects<\/a><\/p>\n

More on Gratitude and happiness from the Wall Street Journal: Thank You. No, Thank You.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Julie Watson, INALJ Pennsylvania Head Editor How to Be Happy Student loan debt. A tight job market. Rejection letters. Uncertainty. Stress. Worry. Fed-up. Frustrated. Happy? No, \u201chappy\u201d is not a word often associated with job-seekers. Do you dream of the day when you land your dream job (or let\u2019s face it, any job)? That…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,5832,3654,218,5833,5834],"class_list":["post-52805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-gratutude","tag-inalj-pennsylvania","tag-julie-watson","tag-thanks","tag-thanksgiving"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/julie_watson.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-dJH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}