Being in Gratitude – Simple Tool to Stay Hale & Hearty
As the world celebrates the Gratitude Day today, the 21st of September, I asked people around me to describe what being in gratitude means to them. “Being thankful” topped the list. For some it also meant feeling and showing appreciation, cherishing every moment in life, sharing the best of what they have, feeling positive and blessed, feeling humbled.
“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all the other virtues.” ~ Roman Philosopher Cicero
Gratitude Day – A Powerful Reminder To Appreciate!
Being in gratitude can be expressed in any number of ways, and celebrating Gratitude Day is all about identifying, acknowledging, and reiterating the virtues of gratitude. In a nutshell, today is a day to take a pause and remind yourself to be thankful every day, if by chance you have forgotten to count your blessings or are focusing on the negatives rather than the positives that life has to offer. Gratitude allows you to embrace all the good in your life.
In doing so, you also automatically become grateful for the root cause that makes you “feel good.” This cause could sometimes be external such as family, friends, nature, or the Supreme power. No matter what the reason for that good feeling, every time you become humble enough to be thankful for that force that brings you joy, you open yourself to receiving more.
As Cicero said, gratitude is the parent of all virtues. A thankful heart is a happy heart; a happy heart nurtures a happy mind; and a happy mind or good mental health guarantees a happy life. A happy life is not one without problems or sorrows, but if your mind is happy, you feel braver and more confident about dealing with the lows. Your inner lens is looking out for positive things and attracting even more positives into your life. In fact, you feel better equipped to turn life’s lemons into lemonade!
How Can You Be Grateful?
It simply starts with being thankful for all that makes you feel good, happy, wanted, loved, appreciated, content, peaceful, calm, or just alive and healthy.
Appreciate that you could wake up to see a new day full of possibilities. Look around you. You probably have a comfortable bed to sleep on, a safe place you call home, enough food to eat, a job that pays your bills, and your body functioning just the way it should be. You probably have family, children and friends that love you unconditionally for who you are. You probably have a pet that makes you smile. The sun on your face or the rain on your shoulders, the beautiful lake by your house or the rainbow in the sky, the fragrance of the flowers, or the cool breeze and the peace you are living in – may all make you happy and you could be grateful for these things that you take for granted.
Simple Ways To Feel Grateful Everyday
Here are some easy ways to feel grateful everyday:
- Start with yourself: You can begin by thanking and appreciating yourself before you hit the bed or anytime you feel comfortable. You could either close your eyes or look yourself in the mirror and list a few good things about yourself every day. You could appreciate yourself for not losing your cool when you were pushed to the corner or pat yourself on the back for making someone else happy.
- Keep a gratitude journal: This helps you become mindful of everything you have gone through the day and appreciate the best parts. It will make you realize that even the smallest of things can be the cause of immense joy. It will also help you understand that no day is entirely bad and that even in the worst of circumstances there will be something to be thankful for.
- Gratitude meditation: Sit quietly for a little while every day, and think about the people and good things in your life. It can help to listen to a guided meditation and then do it on your own after some time.
- For others, you can volunteer or do random acts of kindness: As you practice gratitude for yourself, you can a spend part of Gratitude Day helping others who may not be as happy, privileged, or fortunate as you. A good way to spend World Gratitude Day effectively is to take the time to help those that are less fortunate than us. Someone could be going through a bad day and if you take some time out and even simply listen to that person, you could be bringing immense joy to them. You could visit a home for the elderly or children. You could donate things you plan to replace. Someone else could find it useful. Or you could write someone a thoughtful text or a letter or paint something for someone. You could do anything at all. Just remember that giving increases your ability appreciate what you have.
What Can Practicing Gratitude do for You?
Did you know that being in gratitude is good for your physical, mental, and emotional health? When you are thankful, your brain releases serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine. Dopamine is the feel-good or happy hormone. The more grateful we are, the happier and healthier we feel and can become. Besides, you feel less stressed, you sleep better, your self-esteem goes up, you don’t indulge in self-pity, and you don’t drown yourself in sorrow. When you reflect on the good in your personal life, you train yourself to appreciate the good in your professional life. This helps you engage better with your colleagues, become more social, take on challenges with a positive mindset and, voila! increase your productivity, too! And all it takes is just being in gratitude! Wonderful, isn’t it?
Count Your Blessings – A Proven Research
Psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, in their study “Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life” researched on the effect of gratefulness on psychological and physical well-being.
In a 10-week study, students were divided into three cohorts to list at least five blessings, hassles, and life events. The first group was asked to list at least five things they were thankful for over the past week. The second group of students were supposed to lists hassles or things that bothered them. The third group had to list at least five events that had an effect on them, with no specific instruction on whether these had to be positive or negative events. At the end of 10 weeks, those asked to list blessings ended up feeling better about their lives and themselves. They had a more positive attitude towards their health and well-being and felt optimistic about the forthcoming week.
This just goes to show that when people are thankful, they are also healthy. They value their life more, hence they eat healthy and exercise to stay fitter and contribute more to society. So, here’s a little list of what practicing gratitude can do for you:
- Lifts your spirits and mood.
- Inspires you to stay healthy and improves your physical health.
- Makes you comfortable with yourself.
- Makes you more confident.
- Helps you improve your social bonds and stay connected with others.
- Makes you more optimistic.
- Takes good care of your mental health.
- Helps you appreciate the smallest things in life.
- Helps you become more mindful of your surroundings.
- Reduces your stress, improves your sleep, and keeps you away from depression.
How To Practice Gratitude Everyday?
At JWLCC gratitude is a corner stone for the approach to wellness. In all our programs there is a natural emphasis on gratitude and mindfulness. Our mission is to train the mindsets of people to grow professionally and as individuals. Our holistic approach helps people search within, feel grateful for even the smallest of positive things in their lives and channelize the energy they get from being in gratitude to enhance both their professional and personal relationships. We help people appreciate what they have, to help them become stronger individuals who can not only take on the world but also heal themselves and become more complete individuals. We help businesses see the positives in their people and engage with them more positively to increase their productivity and become the kind of workplaces that nurture happy minds.
You are the master of your own happiness. What you choose to do or how you choose to look at life can bring you the happiness you seek. Choose gratitude for all that’s good around you to make yourself and those around you happy.
All the best, Jasmin Waldmann
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