Gratitude is a positive and powerful emotion that involves being thankful and appreciative. It has also been scientifically proven to be associated with several mental, physical, and psychological health benefits.
When experiencing gratitude, you feel grateful for something or someone in your life and respond with feelings of kindness, warmth, and other forms of generosity.
Gratitude is a domino effect, when someone experiences gratitude it encourages them to reciprocate it. When you help someone in a time of need whether it was small or big, and they express how thankful or grateful they are--without a doubt it makes you feel great inside, then if someone is there to witness your act of kindness it inspires them to return the same form of gratitude.
According to Robert A. Emmons, PhD, a leading expert in the science of gratitude, breaks it down into two components. The first is an affirmation of goodness.
“We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received,” Emmons said in an article for Greater Good Magazine. “Gratitude encourages us to identify some amount of goodness in our life.”
The second component Emmons cites is the recognition that the sources of goodness are outside of ourselves.
"We acknowledge that other people or even higher powers gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives,” Emmons said in the piece.
SCIENTIFIC STUDY: HOW NOT HAVING GRATITUDE AFFECTS HAPPINESS
"According to Positive Psychology, British psychologist and wellness expert, Robert Holden, conducted a survey on adult professionals and found that 65 out of 100 people selected happiness over health, although they indicated that both were equally important for a good life. Holden, in his study, suggested that the roots of many psychopathological conditions like depression, anxiety, and stress is unhappiness. "
Happiness is like fuel to our soul. When we are experiencing unhappiness, we become detached from ourselves and from others. We lose the ability to thrive in our place of work and social life, neglect our health, and begin to feel like our life has no meaning. The secret to gaining happiness starts within yourself, and once you execute that internally anything external is a non-factor.
HOW GRATITUDE JOURNALING IMPROVES YOUR WELL BEING
Keeping a gratitude journal handy is a great way to write down everything you are grateful for. You can journal daily/weekly/monthly, whatever is convenient with your schedule.
Practicing gratitude has great benefits for you and for those you express gratefulness to as well, you become a better version of yourself. Improved sleeping, becoming more active, feeling less burnt out, and feeling happier are linked to individuals who use a gratitude journal and cultivate it daily. Studies have shown that when a person take a moment and reflect on all of the things that make them happy their mind, body, and spirit shift into a better state.
MY JOURNEY WITH PRACTICING GRATITUDE
I personally have a gratitude journal; it's a morning journal I published through Amazon called "Rise with Gratitude" it includes affirmations and prompts that encourage me to start my day with positive thoughts, it challenges me to set a goal for the day and execute it and I can reflect on what I am thankful for daily. I am able to express how I am feeling at that exact moment, I can utilize the provided affirmations, or I can pencil in an affirmation of my own that allows me to set the tone for my entire day. It includes a 7-day challenge for me to execute along with blank pages where I can free write.
Throughout the years, I've had countless journals and notebooks where I would use them to brain dump about my personal trauma, how my day went, my yearly goals, my to-do lists, etc. Although they gave me a sense of relief when I put it all on paper, I wasn't reflecting on the things that made me feel whole. Having a gratitude journal, opened my mind to cherish the small things and embrace every moment that made me feel happy inside, and on days when I begin to feel overwhelmed or defeated by the chaos of life- I can go back and remind myself that although life is crazy right now, I must remain thankful.
INSPIRATIONAL GRATITUDE QUOTES
“Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals.
If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
__ John F. Kennedy, American President
"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation."
__ Brian Trac, American Author
If you are interested in purchasing "Rise with Gratitude by Iona Bloom", click the link below.
