Gems of gratitude.
It’s the time of year when my Facebook feed is filled with people doing their 30 days
of gratitude for November. This year, I haven’t seen as much as I did last or
the year before. I still enjoy reading the ones who do. I love it when the
small details are recounted. For example, one of my friends once told me that
the thing she missed the most about small children, was the pitter-pat of bare
feet alongside the rustle of a diaper. It touched my heart. Ever since then, when
I’m having a rough day, I take a deep breath and listen for that specific
harmony. And I smile every time.
I know, first hand, the benefits of cultivating and
expressing gratitude. It’s been a matter of personal pondering and study. By
that, I don’t just mean personal reflection. The scientific study of the
effects of gratitude on someone’s wellbeing has been a topic that is gathering
some steam in the past couple years. The findings are not surprising. Apparently, people who keep gratitude
journals report healthier lifestyles, are happier, and even report a stronger
ability to make and achieve goals.
Want to be healthier?
One thing you could do is start a gratitude journal.
According to one study; “Gratitude predicted greater subjective sleep quality
and sleep duration, and less sleep latency and daytime dysfunction.”
As a pregnant woman who is also a mother of four, sleep
alludes me. I also struggle with bouts of anxiety or depression that make it difficult
for me to get true rest. I tried this gratitude-journal writing and I can see
that it has really helped.
A different study found that people who wrote down the
things they were grateful for on a weekly basis, exercised more, reported fewer
physical discomforts, and felt better about their lives as a whole.
This has been my experience so far. In the six weeks that I
have kept a gratitude journal. (I write in it about three times a week). I have
seen this happen. Naturally, not because I researched it and realized it was
“supposed” to happen. My mind has literally rewired itself from the desire to
watch Netflix when I feel depressed, to wanting to take a walk. Now, if I could
only get it to rewire so I’d want to do dishes…
How about happier?
Counting your blessings increases your happiness. It just
does.
A study conducted in 2008 published in the Journal of
Research in Personality, came to this conclusion:
Overall gratitude
seems to directly foster social support, and to protect people from stress and
depression, which has implications for clinical interventions.
I have found this to be true in my life. If I take the time
to sit down and write the things I am grateful for, my day or week turns
around.
Finally, being
grateful can help you with your goals.
There is a study on this, but it was quoted in a different
article, and I couldn’t get my hands on the primary source.
I do have some
personal experience in this area, though. About four years ago, after I had my
third child, my friends and family told me not to expect to lose the baby
weight. It seemed a common consensus that it just became impossible after the
third kid.
But I wanted to lose the weight. So, I researched every area
of the topic. I began losing. In the end, the code was cracked. I lost all the
weight I had gained and then some.
One of the keys that I discovered, was to be grateful for my
body just as it was. Grateful that I was in it. That I could breathe, walk,
sing, and dance. When I looked in the mirror and saw extra rolls, instead of pinching them and frowning, I would smile. It was a part of me, my body. And I was
grateful for it.
The days when I gave into the automatic, subconscious,
personal, body-shaming, were the days I would mess up my goals. My calorie
count would go out the window. I lost my motivation to exercise or avoid
candy. I’m not sure why this happened,
but if I could find a reason to be grateful, then I was excited to improve. I
could focus on how far I had come. Or how the strain on my knees was noticeably
less, etc. The key was gratitude.
Gratitude gave me the strength to keep going.
So, how to begin.
- Get a notebook. Or open a file on your computer.
- Write one thing that you were grateful for that day. Or more, if they come. Don’t push yourself. One counted blessing can change an entire day.
- Repeat as often as you want. (Daily, weekly, etc.)
It's really that simple.
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