June 10, 2024
Gratitude and Attitude:
You Get to Choose
Do you need an attitude adjustment? Start with gratitude.
Gratitude is an emotional state of thankfulness and acknowledgment of the positive things in one’s life. When one practices a mindset of abundance and appreciation for what one has, it’s easy to start feeling grateful.
Expressing gratitude has many health benefits, including promoting positive thinking and a sense of wellbeing. Studies show that experiencing gratitude for what we have increases lifespan, reduces depression, and helps to lessen pain and feelings of distress.
All you need to do is choose to be grateful. That’s right, the choice is yours.
We get to choose how we react to the world around us, which means we all have the ability to choose our attitude.
Everyone can choose to be grateful, even on the hard days.
You may wonder how I know about choosing to be grateful. I have used this practice for over a decade, and it has helped me tremendously on my roughest days.
Gratitude helped me get through the days of caring for my husband as he suffered through the cancer treatments in tremendous pain. It got me through the tough times when I was hospitalized after a traumatic fall that fractured my neck. I also leaned on gratitude during days when I watched my dad struggle to breathe and the sadness that followed when he passed.
It would have been easy for me to dwell on my feelings of sadness, anger, and exhaustion. I could have let the depression sink over me like it had in the past and chose to remain bitter or resentful. Instead, I chose gratitude.
Even on the most challenging days and toughest of sleepless nights, I choose to find whatever positive thing I can say thank you for.
There were always little things I found to be thankful for, like taking a hot shower, watching the spring flowers bloom, being able to give my children a hug, or receiving a kind word from a stranger.
And you can find small things to be grateful for, too, as long as you choose to be intentional and see the positives through the dark curtain of negativity.
Are you ready to learn how to begin a gratitude practice?
Starting a new gratitude practice is simple: it costs nothing to start and can be done anywhere or at any time. The first step is to make the intentional choice to notice the positive things in your life and say thanks.
Gratitude can be expressed quietly to yourself or even in your thoughts. If you want to say your appreciation aloud, try saying them aloud in the shower or the car on your daily commute. Another option to try with gratitude practice is writing down what you are grateful for. Try writing them in a journal while drinking your morning coffee or before you go to sleep at night. Ten minutes of writing about your gratitude each evening will prime you for a good night’s rest. Choose your favorite way to express what you are grateful for and a time of day or night that works best for you.
Ready to take the next step? Try telling other people about your gratitude. Expressing your thanks and gratitude to another person doesn’t just help you, but it helps the other person as well.
There are many situations where you can start showing more gratitude towards others. Say thank you when someone holds the door for you, voice your appreciation to a coworker for a job well done, or hug a friend or family member and let them know how grateful you are to have them in your life. Even the act of witnessing an expression of gratitude can have a positive impact and result in a sense of wellbeing.
When it comes to showing gratitude, any gesture works. It will make the day a little better when you are in a positive frame of mind and energize you, too!
As a physician, I have utilized this practice with patients who were dealing with depression. They were asked to journal each night about something positive that had happened to them that day. This allowed them to write about the dark feelings they were experiencing and be intentional in finding something positive to record that happened to them each day. Gratitude is a “treatment” that helped many of my patients on their journey towards better mental health.
Expressing gratitude reduces symptoms of depression, and research has also demonstrated that gratitude can improve sleep, help people feel healthier, and result in a more positive attitude or sense of abundance.
You may wonder, “What if expressing gratitude doesn’t get me to my happy place?”
The answer may surprise you. Fake it. That’s right, fake it ‘til you make it.
Are you not feeling positive yet? Put a smile on your face and go look in the mirror. Smile at the grocery store checkout person, the bus driver, the toll collector, and everyone you encounter throughout the day.
Smiles are contagious, and our brains like to make sense of the world. When we smile, our facial muscles feel it, our brain identifies that we are smiling, and it analyzes that smiles are used when one is happy. So, what’s the result? Our brain determines whether we are happy.
Voilà, you feel better, and the people smiling back at you feel better. How awesome is that?
Make your gratitude an intentional practice, a simple ritual that you practice daily.
Personally, I go through my list of gratitudes in my head each morning before I get out of bed. Starting my thoughts on a positive note jumpstarts my day.
Give gratitude a try: choose your attitude and decide to focus on abundance. How you navigate and present to the world each day is your choice. We would love to hear how gratitude impacts your attitude. Please leave a comment below.
In Love and Light,
Jackie
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References:
Caron, Christina, “Gratitude is Really Good for You, Here’s What the Science Shows,” New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/well/mind/gratitude-health-benefits.html
Millacci, Tiffany, “What is Gratitude and Why is it so Important,” February 28, 2017, Positive Psychology, www.positivepsychology.com/gratitude
Morin, Amy, “7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude,” April 3, 2015, Psychology Today, www.psychologytoday.com
