October 12 is Thanksgiving Day for those of us living above the 49th parallel. Like many of my fellow Canadians, I am making a purposeful effort to be thankful today for all the gifts I have in my life. I am thinking about all of the reasons I have to be grateful. Turns out that if I chose to maintain that attitude throughout the year, rather than just on Thanksgiving, I’d be a happier person.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD., studies the science of human happiness. When a LinkedIn colleague posted a link about Professor Lyubomirsky’s new book The How of Happiness, I was really curious to find out more. I mean, who doesn’t want to figure out how to be happy on an ongoing basis?

What struck me most profoundly about Professor Lyubomirsky’s research was her finding on the factors that contribute to our happiness. Surprisingly, our circumstances factor in at only 10%. While our genetic makeup is responsible for 50% of how happy we feel, it is our attitude, what we think, feel and do on a daily basis, that is responsible for the other 40% of how happy we are.

Buddist monks are among the happiest people on the planet. How come? Well, according to Dr. Lyubomirsky, one of the main reasons is the fact that they meditate for 30 minutes each day focusing solely on all of the things they are grateful for. If you are a Buddist monk, everyday is like Thanksgiving, minus the turkey and the pumpkin pie.

The past year has been fraught with challenges for many of us. The recessionary economy, uncertainty, and job loss are thought to be responsible for an increase in stress, as well as in disrespectful behaviours in the workplace. Dr. Lyubormirsky would say that those are merely circumstances. Those circumstances, however difficult they may seem, do not necessarily need to translate into unhappiness.

We all have a choice. Rather than focus on what isn’t working, on our problems, what we don’t have, we can choose to adopt an attitude of gratitude. We can focus on and be thankful for all of the good things we have in our lives – the love and support of our friends and families, the fact that we have food on our tables, and if we are really lucky, our health.

My daughter spent this weekend in bed fighting the flu. She got quite sick. With the spectre of H1N1 hanging over us, the flu can be quite scary, particularly as this strain seems to be most lethal to young people. I have personally experienced how vulnerable we are all, how quickly disease can devastate young healthy individuals. I watched my 43 year old husband succumb to melanoma in a matter of months. I am so grateful that my daughter woke up today feeling stronger and on the road to recovery.

Whatever challenges I may be facing, at least I am lucky enough to be alive to face them. I should be grateful for that fact each and every day of my life, and since reading about Dr. Lyubomirsky’s research I have been trying to do that.

In the past few weeks I have been making a conscious effort to live my life with an attitude of gratitude. I have been finding all kinds of things to be grateful for, things that I simply took for granted. And you know what? Although I still have real problems and challenges, overall, I do feel happier. I think about how lucky I am to have wonderful colleagues like the woman who shared the article that has had such a profound impact on my life. Today I am thinking about how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to share these thoughts with you. Thanks for reading this post.

My goal is to promote respect in the workplace, and by extension, in the world. One of the things I am thinking about on this Thanksgiving Day is how grateful I am to live in a country that embraces the values of tolerance, fairness, justices and mutual respect and allows me to work to promote those values.

What about you? Do you think that happiness is an elusive goal, something that will be achieved when this or that happens for you? How about trying to develop an attitude of gratitude and see what happens? After all, what have you got to lose?