Having gratitude makes a huge difference in our perception and attitude towards life. We are all on a journey, and as we work towards our goals, we have a tendency to forget all the good around us. By taking time to recall the good along the way, we can change our mindset for the better!
Thankfulness includes a sense of appreciation for someone or something in your life that has a positive effect. Psychiatry researchers explain being grateful means appreciating the meaningful, valuable things to one’s self, and it represents a general state of having a thankful attitude. But how does thankfulness affect our emotional and physical wellbeing? Let’s find out!
How Thankfulness Affects You
Thankfulness is scientifically proven to positively impact our mindset and mood! Here are some of the ways thankfulness affects us:
Makes you Happier
Focusing on the good things in life for at least 5 minutes a day can have a positive impact on your mood and happiness levels. It can increase your happiness by 10% on average, which offers many benefits, such as improving productivity.
Reduces Negativity
Gratefulness has a huge impact on your psychological well-being. It helps you fight against depression and improves your mental state. Adopting grateful behavior boosts positive emotions and reduces negativity greatly.
Deepens Relationships
Gratitude is a tool that can help strengthen relationships! Expressing gratitude helps to cultivate interpersonal connection and promotes relational satisfaction. According to studies, people who express gratitude towards another person tend to be more willing to forgive others.
5 Exercises for Thankfulness during the Thanksgiving Season
Now that you understand why being grateful is important, you should know how you can become more grateful in life. Fortunately, Thanksgiving season is around the corner, and it is the perfect time to recognize and appreciate the smaller things in life that you are grateful for. The following are some of the easiest ways to show thankfulness during the Thanksgiving season:
1. Use Visual Reminders
Forgetfulness and lack of awareness are the two most common reasons why people develop an ungrateful attitude towards life. Generally, humans don’t recognize the good things in life unless someone or something keeps reminding them.
Having your family, peers by your side, seeing your children doing well in personal and professional life, your own accomplishments, etc., are all big reasons to be thankful in life. You can use visual reminders to practice gratitude as they easily catch your attention. For instance, you can use words, pictures, objects that remind you to be thankful.
These visual clues trigger feelings of gratitude towards life and help us improve our perception. You can stick thank you notes on the fridge, or write index cards with all the things you feel grateful for, etc.
2. Maintain a Gratitude Journal
It is important to take some time every once in a while and remind yourself of the little gifts you have in life. This could include the things you enjoy doing, your aspirations in life, and much more. No moment or good thing is too small to include!
Journaling is the best way to record your gratitude and feel good. You can maintain a gratitude journal and list down everything that makes you happy or grateful. You can write about the people you love, the blessings you have in life, and the achievements you are proud of.
3. Recall Your Journey
We often get so busy in life that we forget to appreciate what we have! It is important to stay positive, but you should also remember the difficulties you’ve faced in the past and how you overcame them. Recalling where you’ve been will remind you of your ability to keep going and that you can manage obstacles as you’ve already done in the past.
In addition to this, remember the achievements you’ve already accomplished in life! You will start feeling more grateful as you think about your wins along the way.
4. Give Back to the Community
It has been found that empathy for others can trigger a sense of gratitude. While it’s important to focus on self-growth and your well-being, it is also important to give back to the community.
Contributing towards your community will help you feel better and improve the lives of those in need. You can help someone in need financially or do something as simple as giving a smile, and you will certainly see a difference.
5. Share Gratitude
Keep in mind that being grateful can be a part of your lifestyle. You can express gratitude in so many ways as you go throughout your day. Thankfully, technology has made it possible for us to stay very connected, so you can easily share messages of thankfulness to friends and family near and far.
Bottom Line
Developing gratitude will make big changes in your life for the better. There are so many ways to practice thankfulness, and you can be unique and personal in the way that you express gratitude!
If you want to start your journey towards gratefulness with giving back, you can purchase and support noble causes at guudguuds, where every product makes an impact.
Sources
https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/10-ways-be-more-thankful-person
https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-appreciation/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/ten_ways_to_become_more_grateful1
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