In the last couple +1s we talked about the power of Gratitude and Grateful Flow.
(You try them out yet? 😃)
Today, letâs talk about something Barbara Frederickson calls âcelebratory love.â
First, quick backstory: Barbara is one of the worldâs leading researchers studying well-being. She wrote a book called Love 2.0 where she tells us that, from a scientific perspective, love is really all about âmicro-moments of positivityââmoments in our everyday lives in which we connect with someone over a shared positive emotion.
Weâll talk about that more soon.
For now, I want to focus on two different types of love: compassionate love and celebratory love. Compassionate love is when our hearts open up to feel someoneâs pain and we wish them a sense of well-being. Celebratory love is, as the name implies, when we see the awesomeness in someone else and CELEBRATE it with them.
Barbara calls celebratory love âgratitudeâs generous cousin.â (â I love that.)
We appreciate SOMEONE ELSEâS good fortune when we practice (yes, itâs a practice!) celebratory love.
We can do this all day every day. See someone with a spring in their step and a smile on their face? Take a moment to celebrate their apparent happiness and beam them a silent, virtual high five! Barbara silently says to herself, âMay your happiness and good fortune continue!â
And, perhaps most importantly, when a loved one (or friend or colleague or anyone) shares a story about their success with you, CELEBRATE IT!!!
Barbara tells us that most counseling focuses on helping couples and families deal with the challenges in their relationships. But, she tells us, itâs actually WAY more important to get REALLY good at celebrating the POSITIVE stuff!! (If we canât do that, our relationship is really in trouble.)
Letâs move from theory to practice.
Spend a moment thinking of the three people you love most in the world. Who are they?
1. ___________________________
2. ___________________________
3. ___________________________
Wonderful.
Now, whatâs one thing you can appreciate about each of them?
Name â Awesomeness
1. ___________________________ â ___________________________
2. ___________________________ â ___________________________
3. ___________________________ â ___________________________
Fantastic.
I celebrate you and your awesomeness!
Now, letâs make that a habit!