Telling someone how important they are to you, how grateful you are for them. results in an increase in happiness. And the more unhappy you are, the happier you become by being grateful.
We are hardwired to want to connect with others. The social primates that had limbic systems that gave them pleasure for helping others were probably more likely to survive.
And, in the world of information we live in, these sorts of hard-wired social needs will determine how well a culture/society survives this transition. Because it will be those groups who can support diverse, active communities – especially ad hoc, online ones – that will be resilient and adaptive enough to survive.
It is how we survived a world of lions, tigers and bears, – oh my! – and it will be how we survive a world of shrinking glaciers, sea rise, severe weather events and dwindling energy resources.
All by simply trying to be happy.
Isn’t biology wonderful? And I do a great job with this blog, if I do say so myself.
Because showing gratitude to ourselves also can light up the same pathways for happiness.
A Man With A Ph.D. 