18-Can Negative Visualization Make Me Happier?

How can thinking about negative things actually make me happier?  This doesn’t seem right?  Let me explain. 

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and today we’re talking about negative visualization. 

Negative visualization is sometimes referred to as the gap of what we want and what we have. It was developed by the ancient Greeks to create more happiness in your life. 

You visualize yourself deprived of whatever it is that you really value in your life.  

You imagine that you lost this thing. Imagine that you lost your family. Imagine that you lost your house. Imagine that you lost your job. Imagine that you lost your health.

For example, my marriage isn’t there forever, something could happen to my spouse, this life is fragile.   This helps our brain appreciate our spouse, so in this experience of negative visualization, we start to feel gratitude and appreciation for our spouse and we go on to appreciate them while we have them.  And perhaps, not sweat the small stuff that day. 

What happens, as humans, we adapt to our environment, we take things for granted - we assume they will always be there.  Our marriage, our job, our house, our health.  

How would your life be negatively impacted if something drastically changed.  What if you broke a foot or lost your eyesight, your house burned to the ground. 

For a few minutes today, visualize how things would be different if you lost something you take for granted. And then, feel appreciations for what you have.  The science and the Greeks seems to think this will make us happier.   

Let me know how this worked, what do you appreciate?  Head over to @everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie