On Fire for Seligman

I'm on my third book by Dr. Martin Seligman, and it's not even on the mandatory-read list! But his work speaks to me. It's significant and potentially life changing.

Dr. Seligman is considered the father of Positive Psychology, and yes, there is such a thing. He is the Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and former director of the American Psychological Association.

I finished Authentic Happiness last week and found his approach both practical and inspiring. Here are a few points to pass along and ones I want to remember:
- Happiness and well being is used interchangeably and can include positive feelings - It may refer to activities in which nothing is felt at all. (absorption and engagement)
- He divides positive emotions into three kinds: past, present and future.
- Past emotions include satisfaction and contentment.
- Future emotions include optimism, hope, confidence and trust.
- Present emotions are again divided into two categories:  pleasures, which are of the body, and gratification, which are more complicated and more learned than sensory ones.
- Feelings are subjective and the final judge is "whoever lives inside a person's skin."
- Research has been show that the tests of these states can be rigorously measured. The measures are repeatable, stable across time and consistent across situations.
- These emotions, and how to have them in abundance, is the centerpiece of the first part of the book.

I also like his point on gratifications - rock climbing, dancing or playing bridge. The gratifications absorb and engage us fully; they block self-consciousness; they block felt emotion, except in retrospect ("Wow, that was fun!"); and they create flow, the state in which time stops and one feels completely at home. And he says gratifications come from developing ones own personal strengths. It's not about obtaining momentary subjective states, but rather, includes the idea that one's life has been authentic. His definition of authentic is deriving gratification and positive emotion from one's signature strengths.

I am fascinated with positive emotion - not in a superficial, let's not face reality kind of way - but in a way that knows that what we dwell upon, we become. Our minds are very powerful tools. Am I being intentional? Am I making choices for my well being? What is possible for me?