Risk & Business Magazine Marcotte The Magazine - Winter 2018 | Page 13

HAPPY TO BE HEALTHY
health. For many of us, health like money
contributes to happiness mostly in the
negative; the lack of it brings much more
unhappiness than possessing it brings
happiness. It’s very easy to take money or
health for granted until it's gone.
My husband recently had surgery on his
knee. Minor surgery, something many
people have done, not risky, a very ordinary
procedure, didn't take long. But boy, the
experience of setting foot in a hospital
made me fervently, passionately, explosively
grateful for my health.
Of course, I was also grateful
for the good hospital, the
insurance, the doctors and
nurses, the relief from pain
that my husband got, his
uncomplicated recovery. So I
was also very grateful for all
that.
But most of all, I was reminded that I
should never to take good health for
granted -- my health, or anyone else's. To
be able to take a deep breath, to hear, to
see, to walk, to eat, to be free from pain...
it's so precious.
Another positive consequence of
gratitude? When we're grateful, we tend
to want to make sure that other people
share in whatever we're feeling we're
feeling grateful for. If I'm feeling grateful
for the beauty of Central Park, it makes
me think about how much I want other
people also to be able to experience the
beauty of a park.
Feeling grateful often spurs us to turn
outward, to think about the situations
of others. The trip to the hospital
reminded me of the importance of
health for me, and for everyone. It made
me think about insurance, medical
care, availability (and of course habits,
just about everything makes me think
about habits) and what steps I can take
in my own life, to help others have these
building blocks of good health.
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous
story, "The Adventure of Silver Blaze,"
(which includes the now well-known
phrase "the curious incident of the dog
in the night-time") Sherlock Holmes
perceived a clue in the fact that a dog
didn’t bark. I find it hard to be grateful
for the problems that aren't there. Today
is a day that I don't make a visit to the
hospital a happy day.
I'm also reminded of a
hilarious scene from one
of my favorite movies, The
Princess Bride. I've watched
the scene where Count Rugen
and Humperdinck discuss
the important things in life,
and it makes me laugh every
time. "If you haven't got
your health, you haven't
got anything." It's a cliché,
because it's true.
A good gratitude reminder.
Do you find it hard to remember to be
grateful? Do you have any strategies
to help prompt gratitude? People
use gratitude journals, screen-saver
reminders, photographs and giving
thanks before meals...what else? I write
about my own gratitude exercise in The
Happiness Project.
Gretchenrubin.com
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. She’s known for her
ability to distill and convey complex ideas with humor and clarity, in a way that’s accessible to a wide audience.
She’s the author of many books, including the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before and
The Happiness Project. She has an enormous readership, both in print and online, and her books have sold almost three million copies
worldwide, in more than 30 languages. (The Happiness Project spent two years on the bestseller list.)
On her top-ranking, award-winning podcast “Happier with Gretchen Rubin,” she discusses happiness and good habits with her sister
Elizabeth Craft.
She’s been interviewed by Oprah, eaten dinner with Daniel Kahneman, walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama, had her work written
up in a medical journal and been an answer on the game show Jeopardy!
Gretchen Rubin started her career in law and was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized she wanted
to be a writer. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her husband; they have two daughters (a college freshman and a
seventh-grader).
Credit: Michael Weschler
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