24 Feb Positive Outlook

One of my favorite passages in Scripture that I referred to in Workshop 3 is from Philippians:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. ( New International Version, 1978/2011, Philippians 4:6–9)

In this workshop, you will explore what it means to have a positive mindset and the research around the power of positive psychology that, I believe, reinforces ancient traditions in religion and philosophy. Philippians 4:6–9 encourages us to focus our attention on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. All these positive attributes listed in these verses have to do with what we see in people and how they treat others in relationships. And the Scriptures call us to focus our attention, reflect on, to “think about such things.” In other words, we are to meditate on the good deeds around us.

This technique of training our minds to think about good, honorable stories and acts that we see in others is not only a positive psychology intervention; it is a spiritual practice that can shape our relationship with God and increase our happiness.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

· Reflect on the biblical principles of gratitude and meditation.

· Identify ways in which practicing biblical meditation and a positive mindset can be used in your role as a life coach.

Background Information Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive Psychology, conducted research related to gratitude journaling and reflecting on three good things or three things that have gone right during the day. Since this initial research, multiple studies have shown that if we focus our attention, much like the Bible indicates in Philippians 4, on things that have gone right during the day, our emotional state, our sleep, and even our physical health can be altered in significantly positive ways.

Research was also conducted around the VIA Strengths Inventory you completed in a previous course. The researchers compared the 24-character strengths (humility, appreciation for beauty, compassion, hope, honesty, prudence, etc..) and discovered that two of the 24 stood out as most crucial or predictive of an elevated level of happiness.

Any guesses which ones?

Of the 24 character strengths, gratitude and love of learning had the strongest correlation to increased levels of positive emotion. And of these two finalists, gratitude was the key character strength.

In this devotional, you will review biblical themes of gratitude and experience the power of a positive mindset through a gratitude intervention.

Instructions

1. Navigate to the discussion topic and respond to the following prompts:

a. Take ten minutes to reflect on and then write down an example of positive, admirable attributes that you have seen in someone else today or this week.

b. Write about three things that have gone well today. Be detailed in your descriptions of the events, writing at least a paragraph for each of the three events or examples and describing why they went well.

2. Your postings should also:

a. Be well developed by providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking.

b. Add greater depth to the discussion by introducing new ideas.