Want to be Happier? Try This One Thing

Want to be happier?I do.There was a time in my life when the word happy conjured up all kinds of images for me, and most of them were of shallow people who were faking their way through life, obviously not taking life seriously enough. The point of life isn't happiness, after all. Anyone who could be happy obviously isn't getting it (whatever it is). The Seattle music scene in the early nineties made a killing on people like me.But these days, I'm kind of over that. I want to be happier.And it turns out that there is one thing you can actually do that will dramatically increase your level of happiness.It turns out that Psychologists have scientifically proven that one of the greatest contributors to your overall level of happiness is connected with your ability to express gratitude. The good people over at Soul Pancake put out this beautiful, seven-minute video which documented an experiment they did based on those findings. It made me cry.Check it out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg(If your reader doesn't support the above link, open this post in your browser by clicking here).Now, I dare you to do it. Go ahead.Think of a person in your life who is really important to you. Someone who has loved you well, or done something that has helped you or delighted you. Picture their face in your mind. Stay with that picture for 60 seconds and then write out everything you can think of about why that person is important to you. Be as specific as you can. And let the healing begin.What the folks at Soul Pancake found, though, was that while expressing gratitude through writing increased someone's happiness some, actually calling that person and reading the letter out loud to them increased their happiness dramatically.There is something that happens inside of our souls when we express gratitude out loud to someone. Something in the universe erupts with goodness, and it is released into the atmosphere, infecting everybody.(Nerdy like me and need to read the scientific evidence? Click here).So, try this. I dare you. Take twenty minutes to write it out and then take ten minutes to make the call.Ready? Go. And be happy.