It sure feels as if we now live in a post-happiness world. And we all know whom to blame — the guy who has lived rent free in our heads for so long, who dragged us into this low point in human history:
Dan Gilbert, the Harvard psychologist who published his wildly popular book, "Stumbling on Happiness" in 2006 and went on to sell Prudential life insurance on TV.
If Gilbert had just kept his pesky thoughts on happiness to himself, we wouldn't now be flooded with advice on how to be happier — whatever that word means.
What is happiness, anyway, beyond a sense, fleeting or permanent, of deep-rooted well-being? If you really want to get to the bottom of the overmarketed concept known as happiness, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers a 12,000-word disquisition.
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You know what the next line is.
And that line is truth, is it not? Here on Aging With Strength, I've investigated and analyzed the definition of that word — strength — through many different filters: physical, emotional, cognitive, nutritional, spiritual and social. Next month, once everyone's back from summer vacations, I'll post my deep dive into achieving and maintaining sexual strength, too.
But, let's face it. On many days, for many of us, it's enough to just accomplish the simple act of stayin' alive.
Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me
It's in these specific moments when gratitude comes in, kicks happiness in the crotch, cracks a non-alcoholic beer and offers a poignant reminder that, given the state of the Gilbertian (Gilbertonian?) world we're all now forced to live in — filled with happy talk, happy meals, happy warriors, happy hours, happy holidays, happy mediums, happy trails, happy birthdays, happy babies, happy valleys, Happy Days, happy coincidences, happy feet, happy hunting, happy returns and, not least, happy endings — when your 82-year-old mother emerges from an unintentional ass-backward cartwheel at the local playground without sustaining an injury ... be grateful! Be very grateful.
The healthy benefits of a gratitude mindset
Practicing gratitude just 15 minutes a day can enhance mental wellness and possibly create lasting changes in perspective, research shows. A review of 70 studies involving more than 26,000 people found an association between higher levels of gratitude and lower levels of depression. Perhaps most compelling for adults over 50, gratitude activates the parasympathetic nervous system — the part that helps you rest and digest — lowering blood pressure and heart rate. People with gratitude mindsets also tend to cultivate habits that support healthy sleep, like eating well and exercising regularly. That's exactly the kind of strength we need when life throws us those unexpected playground cartwheels.
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
That phrase pretty much describes how I felt last week as I watched my mother frighteningly lose her balance while goofing around with my daughter, who was pushing Grandma up a hill. My mom fell backward downhill, landed on her back, spun 180 degrees and rolled down a children's slide at a local playground. As fortune would have it, I was shooting video of all this, on my phone. My immediate reaction — beyond the compulsion to keep filming until mom reached the bottom of the slide — was major, sustained gratitude for no broken hips, concussions, fractured wrists or other injuries that could have, in all seriousness, derailed her life.
And now it's all right, it's OK
Notably, my mom's singular response was to laugh her ass off. Like she was happy or something. In a week filled with mortal frustration on many levels, I have a lot of gratitude for that laughter, that joy, that resilience. The episode reminded me to continue acknowledging, daily, all that I have to be grateful for.
That may be the best way of all to age with strength.
To find out more about Paul Von Zielbauer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
Photo credit: Myles Tan at Unsplash
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