Dr. Karl Pillemer

That should be your motivation.

I'm not sure if you've ever had anybody on who's sort of a gratitude, you know, the kind of gratitude happiness researcher.

So this sense of gratefulness for small positive things is a key part of this broader concept of that happiness is a choice rather than a condition.

So it is a shift in focus to, again, gratitude for those things in your life that are working rather than focusing on those that aren't.

I'm going to metaphorically pound my fist on the table and say that this is something that your listeners should really absorb and take to heart because it's practical wisdom that is so evidence-based that if you are in a very bad time, things are extremely stressful, if you can infuse a positive emotion into that,

your negativity will drop.

So one thing that has been extensively studied is people who are caring, say, for a person very debilitated with Alzheimer's disease.

Those people who are unbelievably stressed, constantly up all night, the person is wandering, but who are encouraged to think, I'm doing something great here.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I'm fulfilling my filial or marital responsibility.

I am showing that I am a competent person because I can do this.

Simply in infusing, or I'm grateful I still have this person.

You can infuse positive emotions.

It's not like you have to get rid of the negative ones, but there's pure scientific evidence.

If you bring in positive emotions into a very negative and stressful experience...

The negativity drops.

I have a big one.

And then I have a smaller piece of advice for your listeners.

But I would say for all of it, of all the things I learned can be summed up in an expression, which also reflects some earlier things we've talked about, but I'm going to take the risk of reemphasizing it.

And that is live like your life is short.