Happier

I found a new app and I really like it so far. It was shared with me at a seminar I attended yesterday as part of a youth conference for my church. I'm a youth leader, so I attended to help out, and although the seminar was supposed to be for teenagers, it was actually for me. :)

The seminar was about stress and it was REALLY helpful for me. The lady is a therapist with LDS Family Services and she shared a lot of good insights, coping mechanisms, etc. She defined stress as the perception that the demands placed upon us exceed our resources for dealing with them. The word 'perception' is key there. And she discussed the opportunity that stress offers us to grow and expand our capabilities to become more valuable to ourselves and others.

So stress isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can be an enabler. She also discussed 'blessings', defining blessings as things that contribute to true happiness, well-being, or prosperity. Stress, seen as an opportunity for growth, can lead to greater blessings. And during stressful times, we can find blessings while we're struggling. Blessings and challenges usually live together, so it can be fun to seek out the blessings in the midst of challenges.

To that end, the speaker shared an app called 'happier'. It's a social media forum like Facebook where the goal is to share things that make you happy. Of all the things I took away from the seminar (and there were a lot of great things I want to internalize), the idea of seeking out blessings and focusing on the positive things resonated with me the most. So last night, I got the app and started sharing things that make me happy.

Here are the things I've posted about so far:

1. After the seminar, a woman came up to me and asked if I was Brett Walkenhorst. Uh ... I think so. She told me her name and I was so excited! We attended the same church when we were teenagers and it was so cool to catch up with her! It had probably been 20 years since I had seen her. That was really cool.
2. This morning, I woke up really early and enjoyed the quiet of the house and a beautiful scene outside. The clouds were so beautiful.
3. Later, my youngest daughter woke up and cuddled with me on the couch. I love that!

I think I need to keep up this habit of gratitude. It's very therapeutic. I've been working on my physical health lately and as it has improved, I've found new sources of energy and more glimpses of happiness. After practicing identifying happy moments for about half a day, I already feel a bit of a surge in the happiness factor. That's pretty cool!

If you're interested, check out the happier app. Or check out the associated website. I really like it so far! And let me know if you use it; I'd be happy to connect with you on it.

If you want to know more about the site/app, the founder of the company has a pretty cool story. She gave a TED talk about finding happiness that I thought was really insightful. Check it out!

And if you need a quick little uplift and a sample of what this company is all about, check this out: smile.happier.com.