Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
The ratio of positive to negative emotions that predicts flourishing is about 3 to 1. Above that ratio, people tend to flourish; below it, they tend to languish.
Positivity transforms us for the better. By opening our hearts and minds, positive emotions allow us to discover and build new skills, new ties, new knowledge, and new ways of being.
Love is the supreme positive emotion, the one that encompasses all others. It is the feeling of positive resonance that you experience when you connect deeply with another person.
The more you experience positive emotions, the more open you become. The more open you are, the more you see. The more you see, the more you can do. The more you can do, the more you can grow.
Joy sparks the urge to play, interest sparks the urge to explore, contentment sparks the urge to savor and integrate, and love sparks a recurring cycle of each of these urges within safe, close relationships.
Positive emotions broaden our awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions. Over time, this broadened behavioral repertoire builds skills and resources.
