Misery loves company. When did we start focusing on this little nugget of joy? Actually, ancient philosophers pontificated on this topic - Sophocles, around 408 b.c., used words to this effect in his writings. It appeared in the 1300 in English. And, of course there is that particular Misery where Kathy Bates definitely wanted "company" in her "home".
Back in the hunter/gatherer days, it makes sense that humans paid attention to the negative minutia as it could save lives. The direction of the wind brings a new unpleasant scent - a fire or predator could be approaching. A plant tastes bitter when we try it - because in larger quantities, it could be poison. Today, we still sniff milk around the expiration date so we don't drink sour milk; not lifesaving, but certainly saving us from an unpleasant addition to a bowl of cereal or cup of coffee.
But a "minus" is only half a "plus", and indeed, a positive effect exponentially is contagious. Harvard did a study in the workplace about how noticing small nice things at work can significantly reduce stress. People normally share horrible experiences, "this tastes awful, try it" or "then when I opened the box I found this gross..."; instead, Harvard's study said to write three pleasant things each day.
Writing and then likely sharing these positive experiences increase bonds with people. After all you want to be around happy people, not miserable people. It lifts spirits - think of all the cute animal videos that you see, and don't you typically share them? Having positive-oriented bonds with people helps reduce our stress, which also helps improve our sleep. With more and better-quality sleep, we are likely to wake up on the "right" side of the bed.
As the positives grow, the negatives decrease. We don't focus on ugly when we can choose to see and share more pretty. It also helps diffuse a toxic environment and brings you "above the pack." Perhaps this is a reason why having pictures of our family at our desks, our offices painted soothing color, hallways and bathrooms having a pleasant atmosphere.
Three good things every day. You can set a timer that orients around when you may feel stress - rolling up into the office, back to your desk after work, and mid afternoon when you really just want to bug out. You can even do team building with it, that each week employees deposit "nice" things in a box and once a week you share them electronically with everyone on the team. Lead by example and start today. And you can do this with your kids, too, to help set them on the right path now.
For more on the study and results of the power of positive thinking at work, read more here: https://hbr.org/2015/09/the-powerful-effect-of-noticing-good-things-at-work
