"In this classic experiment, participants watched a video of individuals passing basketballs and were asked to count the number of passes made by one team. Seems simple enough. But in the middle of the game, a person in a gorilla suit walked through, paused, thumped their chest, and strolled off. Here's the kicker: A whopping 56% of participants didn't notice the gorilla. They were so focused on counting passes that they completely missed something glaringly unusual and obvious."
"Although this study was about inattentional blindness, it also delivers a powerful lesson about gratitude: We can be so consumed by the daily hassles of life-a traffic jam, an annoying boss, a neighbor who blasts music at night-that we fail to notice the goodness right in front of us. And sometimes that goodness is just as obvious as the gorilla intruding on a basketball game."
An experiment on inattentional blindness showed that many people miss glaring events when focused narrowly: participants counting basketball passes often failed to see a person in a gorilla suit. Everyday hassles like traffic or annoying neighbors can similarly blind attention to nearby goodness. Negative thoughts and feelings are normal parts of life and not inherently wrong. Minds, not only circumstances, shape the capacity for gratitude. The principle of prioritizing goodness recommends intentionally shifting attention toward positives and allocating at least half of time and mental energy to noticing and celebrating what is good in life.
Read at Psychology Today
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