Sharing Happiness

SoulPancake is a media company that seeks to enrich people with positive ideas through big experiments, their latest being the “Science of Happiness” project.

In the video above, the host of the experiment explains how happiness comes from gratitude, and to prove it, participants did something that is unthinkable these days: they thanked someone.

Each person was instructed to choose someone in their life who has been their most positive influence. People chose siblings, professors and other various friends in their lives for the experiment. They were then told to write down (on paper!) why they are grateful for that person.

SoulPancake Experiment

It was then that SoulPancake turned the experiment around on them. They were told to call their respective person and read what they wrote out loud to them. Some left voicemails while others tearfully expressed their gratitude in real-time, but the results were the same.

Towards the end of the video, the host revealed that showing gratitude scientifically makes you happier, but there is something else. He tells us that the most unhappy among us are the most likely to show a large increase in happiness when saying “thank you” to someone.

We at Thriveworks hope that you take this lesson to heart.

Real happiness comes from more than just bank accounts and possessions. We encourage you try this experiment out for yourself and pick your own influencer you want to say “thank you” to! We’d love to hear how it goes.