Considering that life offers us relatively few gold moments, it makes sense to adopt a bronze attitude. CNN reports that there is scientific evidence showing that bronze medalists tend to be happier than silver medalists. Their research on Olympians supports that we would tend to be happier if we adopted the attitude of a bronze medalist in the face of life’s challenges.
Both second and third place winners engage in counterfactual thinking. “Counterfactual thinking is, as Wikipedia states, "counter to the facts". Such thoughts consist of the words, "What if?" and the "If I had only..." that occur when thinking of how things could have turned out differently.”
“Happiness very much hinges on expectations” says E. Scott Geller, PhD. Silver medalists have a tendency to gauge themselves as falling short, whereas bronze medalists are inclined to think of what they have achieved and therefore tend to be more content. Based on this research data on medal position, we would do well to focus expectations of ourselves on the achievable. Thus, we can more easily claim our personal goals and proudly stand on life’s podium.
Nancy Wales CSJ