Can You Curse During a Gratitude Meditation?

We’ve all heard about studies that show that counting our blessings or doing some kind of gratitude meditation will boost happiness. Some people dismiss the idea, however, with the assumption that you can only cultivate gratitude if you’re the pure, high-minded sort – that you have to ponder silently by a woodland stream, or sit lotus-style on your yoga mat, or at least keep a daily journal if you want to focus on gratitude.

“That kind of thing isn’t for me,” the thinking goes. “I’m too edgy, too irreverent, too ironic.”

But as this YouTube clip shows, gratitude meditations can come in a lot of flavors.

On Late Night with Conan O’Brien, comedian Louis CK’s commentary is edgy and irreverent – and it absolutely reminds us to be grateful of the things we take for granted in everyday life.

I can't embed the clip, Everything's amazing, nobody's happy, but go check it out. My favorite line, about getting a cell-phone connection, "Can you give it a second? It's going to space."

What he said must have resonated with people; Time reports that the video has been viewed more than a million times, which put it as March’s fourth most-viewed clip.

I find it challenging to practice gratitude, and I’m always looking for new ways to cultivate a grateful frame of mind. I loved the fact that watching Conan O’Brien did the trick today.

* One of my Secrets of Adulthood is “It’s okay to ask for help,” and I’m asking for your help. If you consider yourself a super-fan of The Happiness Project (I ask sheepishly), and would be willing to help me out in a few ways, I’d love to hear from you.

First item: before long, I’m going to launch my super-secret, super-fabulous, happiness-related website. I’ll send the super-fans the link ahead of time, in case they’d be interested in being beta testers (i.e., using the site in its early stages, to help work out the kinks before I make it public).

If you’re not interested in that sort of thing, there are some other issues that will come up in the next few months -- all purely voluntary, of course, so if you sign up as a super-fan but then don’t want to do anything, that’s perfectly fine.

If any kind souls would like to sign up, please just drop me an email at
gretchenrubin1[at]gmail[dot com]. (I added brackets to thwart spammers, but just use the usual email format.) No need to write anything more than “super-fan” in the subject line, and I’ll put your name on the list.

Comments

[Amelia]

loved the youtube clip - flying through the air in a chair is amazing indeed :)

[Christopher]

I never thought I'd see the day that Gretchen drops Louis CK's name in a blog post - love his work!

[Kimberly]

Ever since I learned how much more negative experiences are noticed than positive ones, I've started to work to notice when things go my way--when I'm running late and I get green lights, when I don't have to wait for a train, when people let me in (Hmmm, I guess I work on this the most in the car!). I am still nowhere near perfect at the gratitude thing, but I am much happier now that I make the effort to notice when things are working in my favor.

LOVED the clip!

[Yes, But Still...]

That video was hilarious. Thank you for the link!

[Annette]

Thank you so much for the link to the clip.

Hilarious and true!

[Laurie]

Great clip. It's funny because it's true.

[Lexi]

Louis CK is hilarious -- so glad to see him get a shoutout on this blog. I love how he never shies away from calling a spade a spade. We are indeed a nation of spoiled, ungrateful brats.

[Nadia - Happy Lotus]

I loved this clip. It made me laugh and it is so true. People do not realize how lucky they are to have what they have. I have lived in parts of the world where in the morning you were never sure if water would actually come out of the tap!

[Liz Stanley]

What a great video! I love Louis CK in the first place, but I do think we all can take a lesson from him about gratitude! I know I can. Thanks!

[kirwin]

Thanks for the clip. I'm going to send it on to everyone in my family. It's all so true. It reminds me of several years ago when I was still teaching (1st grade), and one of the little boys brought in a rotary phone for Sharing. He told the class that it was what they used in the "olden days." I felt soooooooo old. (I was 30 at the time.) Anyhow, the kids ooohed and ahhed like it was a gadget from outer space. ; )

[Maryann]

I clicked on the link and maybe that one was funny. But did you check out any of his other videos on YouTube? The one on the Catholic Church was vile, obscene and degrading. This man is not funny. If he would make a similar video about Jews or blacks, he would be scathingly criticized. Be more careful about who recommend as a funny, inspiring and uplifting person. Watching his filthy, ugly ranting against the Catholic Church did not bring me happiness.

[KH]

Maryann: Just because he has other content you find offensive doesn't mean the Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy clip isn't worth watching. If you don't like it, DON'T WATCH IT!

[nike sb]

I tried to think so, but I found it was not as the same in the actual process. As you mentioned, I still have doubts, but really thank you for sharing!

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Two thumbs up, well done!

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Thanks, helpful source.

[bankruptcy records]

Louis CK is hilarious -- so glad to see him get a shoutout on this blog. I love how he never shies away from calling a spade a spade. We are indeed a nation of spoiled, ungrateful brats.