Not long ago there were reports of a study whose results indicated that people who frequently use the words "I," "me," and "my" are less happy than those who use these words less frequently. It seems that people who aren't thinking of themselves all the time are more cheerful than those who speak more in the first person.
In my case, many of the times I use the first-person terms, I use them to show that I realize that what's true for me isn't necessarily true for anyone else. Sure, here in the journal I talk about myself more than other people--this is my journal, after all. But in regular conversation, it looks to me that a lot of my self-references are indications that I understand that other people aren't always like me. Of course, my perceptions here could be off and I really am terribly self-absorbed.
In any event, now I'm wondering: Are people who don't speak much in the first person happier because they're less interested in themselves than they are in the amazing world around them, or are they happier because they have the luxury of assuming that everybody else is just like them?
In my case, many of the times I use the first-person terms, I use them to show that I realize that what's true for me isn't necessarily true for anyone else. Sure, here in the journal I talk about myself more than other people--this is my journal, after all. But in regular conversation, it looks to me that a lot of my self-references are indications that I understand that other people aren't always like me. Of course, my perceptions here could be off and I really am terribly self-absorbed.
In any event, now I'm wondering: Are people who don't speak much in the first person happier because they're less interested in themselves than they are in the amazing world around them, or are they happier because they have the luxury of assuming that everybody else is just like them?
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