Having a Rough Day? Try on Gratitude!
We all struggle with days when we don’t meet the high standards we set for ourselves.
We get overwhelmed with emotion (sadness, frustration, anger, etc.).
What can we do to re-gain our composure and get our peace back?
GRATITUDE!
Now you may be saying, “Does that really work?”
I assure you that it does, and that should give you hope.
(HINT: It has been scientifically, as well as anecdotally, proven.)
So, how do you get started?
There are many ways that you can practice gratitude, but let me just suggest a few:
For starters, grab a small notebook or memo book and, when you feel the emotions taking over, stop, take a few deep breaths, and write down three things that you are grateful or thankful for. This can be as basic as, “I am so thankful for God’s gift of sunshine today!” OR “My friends and family are such gifts to me.”
There are so many directions to go with gratitude statements – just noticing God’s gifts each day, or seeing the world with childlike wonder can be good starting points. Take a moment to appreciate God’s design of a flower or plant, or settle your gaze on a picture of your family and think of how much you appreciate them.
Simple actions like saying “thank you” or “your welcome” can show your gratitude to, and for, others.
Have you ever been grateful for the challenges that God has put in your life?
This type of gratefulness may be a little harder to reach for, but seeing the progress you made or the growth that you’ve had when considering your challenges can be an opportunity to change your perspective about the struggles you have come through. You can even think of the good that has come out of challenges as the little “treasures” God has sent you.
And that’s what gratitude is all about – a change in perspective – seeing the world from a different angle – a view of thankfulness. This has been a tool that I have intentionally put into practice over the course of the past several years and, surprisingly, I now find myself being grateful for small things each day with very little intentional effort – it just comes naturally.
Do you know there are health benefits to practicing gratitude?
Scientist have found that the change in mindset that occurs when practicing gratitude makes our minds healthier which leads to our bodies to being healthier.
Did you know that practicing gratitude can improve your sleep?
When your sleep improves, so does your emotional balance and mood. During scientific research, it was found that thinking about the things you are grateful for (in thought or in prayer) helped improve the quality of sleep as well as the duration of sleep, when this practice is implemented at bedtime.
Researchers have also found that practicing gratitude and thankfulness can have a remarkable effect on lowering stress levels. This alone leads to even more health benefits such as a stronger immune system and positive effects on the inflammation response.
I mentioned earlier that changing our mindset to gratitude leads to a healthier mind. But more importantly, it leads to a biological change in our brains! The areas of our brains that are responsible for positive emotions are activated, and the opposite occurs in the areas responsible for negative emotions – they are suppressed. Why? Beacause, our brains release certain naturally occurring chemicals (dopamine & serotonin) when we practice a gratitude mindest. These two chemicals are “feel good” chemicals and mood boosters that, of course, have a postive effect on how we feel.
Does Gratitude sound like a practice you’d like to implement?
If your answer is yes, there really is no downside – the mental, emotional and health benefits are effects that can improve your life, not just for the day, but for years to come.
If you put a gratitude practice to work for you, let me know how it has affected your everyday life – I’d love to hear your feedback!
If you need some pointers on how to implement gratitude practices - I’m here for you - Just reach out and we can work on this together!
Be Grateful – Be Thankful – Be Blessed!
Faith-Filled Coaching with Mary
Scientific Research Sources:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022399908004224?via%3Dihub
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-018-9988-9
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01491/full