David J. Pollay
The Happiness Answer™
David J. Pollay inspires people to live their best life possible. He uniquely engages his readers intellectually and emotionally in each of his columns. Mr. Pollay’s memorable and personal stories bring to life the power of the Science of Positive Psychology. He backs his messages and stories with cutting-edge research.
Mr. Pollay has led, spoken to and trained thousands of people in his career, and has personally managed hundreds. His roles have ranged from chief executive officer to sports-team captain.
Mr. Pollay is president of The Momentum Project, a training and consulting organization with offices in Delray Beach, Florida and Washington, D.C. His organization focuses on the application of the Science of Positive Psychology to business. Mr. Pollay brings out the top strengths of the leaders and the employees of his client companies so that they can achieve their critical business goals. Leaders from nearly 100 countries have participated in his programs.
Mr. Pollay was one of the early leaders at Yahoo! in California. Over five years he built their first international customer care division, and their first management and leadership development program. Prior to Yahoo!, Mr. Pollay was a director at Global Payments in Atlanta, a director and chief of staff at MasterCard in New York City, and president of AIESEC in the United States, the world’s largest university-based leadership program. And last year in Agra, India, home of the Taj Mahal, Mr. Pollay was inducted into AIESEC’s International Alumni Hall of Fame.
Mr. Pollay holds a Master’s Degree of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania and an Economics Degree from Yale University. He is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and is the founding president of the MAPP Alumni Association. Mr. Pollay presented his Strengths Profiles of Leaders research at the 2006 International Positive Psychology Summit in Washington, D.C. He was recently spotlighted in a nationally broadcast prime-time television news program, “The Mystery of Happiness,” on the Univision Television Network.
Mr. Pollay’s regular newspaper columns first appeared in the Boca Raton News, and The Boomer Times and Senior Life Magazine.
Mr. Pollay lives in Florida with his wife Dawn and their two young daughters, Eliana and Ariela.
I checked on Dawn and the girls. Dawn was sleeping. Eliana and Ariela were sprawled across our bed fast asleep. We let them stay up a little later than usual (sometimes we let them fall asleep on our bed, and then I carry them upstairs to their rooms).
As I was heading from our bedroom to the kitchen, I stopped in the foyer to look at two pieces of mail that were opened and sitting on a shelf. I reached for the one on top. It was a letter. It was addressed to Dawn. I read the first two lines.
“Thank you for your recent visit to our facility. Your digital mammogram shows no evidence of cancer.”
I stopped. I didn’t read the rest of the letter. I just thought about what it could have said. And then I thought about all the other letters that were opened today, and the letters that would be opened tomorrow. Many thousands of women would be blessed with good news. I also thought about all the women around the world who had received or will receive the news they fear most.
Then I had what I call a “gratitude moment.”
I headed to a window. I looked outside and took in the big world. And I said thank you. Thank you for blessing the health of my wife, children, parents and all of my family. Thank you for caring for my friends and colleagues. And I said thank you for everything that is good in my life.
I know letters and phone calls could come at any time with news I would never want to hear. So, when I am reminded of the good in my life, I stop and say thank you. I want to always appreciate the abundance in my life.
The science of positive psychology now points us to the psychological and physical benefits of feeling grateful. Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis and Michael McCollough of the University of Miami found in their research, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: “There do appear to exist benefits to regularly focusing on one’s blessings. The advantages are most pronounced when compared with a focus on hassles or complaints . . .”
In one study Emmons and McCollough “. . . found that a weekly benefit listing was associated with more positive and optimistic appraisals of one’s life, more time spent exercising, and fewer reported physical symptoms.” In another study they discovered: “People led to focus on their blessings were also more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or offered emotional support to another . . .” And in one more study the research pair found that people induced to feel gratitude experienced “. . . greater levels of positive affect, more sleep, better sleep quality and greater optimism and a sense of connectedness to others.”
The evidence is in: Gratitude pays dividends to all who practice it.
So, would you join me this week on a special journey?
This week look for the reminders of the good in your life. And when you find them, stop and say thanks. You have much to celebrate in your life.
David J. Pollay is the author of “Beware of Garbage Trucks!™ - The Law of the Garbage Truck™ (www.bewareofgarbagetrucks.com).” His book, The Law of the Garbage Truck™, is due out this Fall. Mr. Pollay is a syndicated columnist with the North Star Writers Group, creator and host of The Happiness Answer™ television program and DVD, and an internationally sought after speaker. He is the founder and president of The Momentum Project, LLC (www.themomentumproject.com).
© 2008 David J. Pollay.