Dr T K Munshi
Start a gratitude habit : Feeling thankful is how to appreciate all the good stuff and be a whole lot happier every day.
Why give thanks ? Plain and simple, feeling grateful is good for us. Research shows that counting your blessings has many benefits, from better sleep to reduced depression. ” It helps you connect to others and be more optimistic and less likely to ruminate over the negative,” says Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Science Director, University of California, Berkeley. Cementing the habit takes minimal effort.
Notice the Good : A few tips may help you be thankful to a path to more appreciative living. Start each morning by identifying three things you are grateful for ( your kids, your comfy beds, your cute hands -anything). Try not to repeat things, advises researcher Carter. ” For a daily gratitude practice to really be effective, there needs to be novelty, so you don’t just get an autopilot.”
Talk the talk : The most grateful people have learned to use language that emphasizes gifts, blessings, fortune and abundance, says gratitude expert, Dr.Robert Emmons. ” Less grateful people are preoccupied with burdens, deprivations, entitlements and complaints.”
Go beyond yourself : Improve how you dish out thanks toward your loved ones and community.
Upgrade thanks : Express appreciation to someone everyday this week, being super specific. ” Thank you for taking care of the kids while I was away on business,” is much more powerful than, ” Thanks for everything this weekend.”
Pen a letter : Write a heartfelt note to a mentor, family member or friend, detailing how he or she has impacted your life in a positive way. If possible read it aloud in person, or schedule a video chat session to share it.
Be of service : ” Most people end up feeling extra grateful for their own blessings when they give back in same way,” says Simon Thomas. Find a volunteering opportunity that interests you.
Look for unexpected heros : Don’t journal just about people who have helped you,says Emmons, but also about those who have been there for your loved ones. Callout these indirect joy bringers ( like the caretaker who assists your ailing mom or dad, the teacher who is endlessly patient with your child or the great guy about to marry you )
Find a silver lining : Consider how quitting a bad job opened the door to a new opportunity. Consider how such imperfect experiences actually benefitted you.
Take it to the office : ” The workplace is one of the places gratitude is lacking the most,” says Simon-Thomas. Show a boss, a peer or intern some appreciation this week. Don’t be surprised if the good vibes come back to you. Gratitude often has a boomerang effect.
Take it to the dining table : Before partaking dinner with your family members, close your eyes for 11 seconds to pay gratitude to the Master who provided the dinner to the family. This is exactly what the devoted believers do in the West.
Research confirms that performing acts of kindness and sharing thankful thoughts have many positive effects on mood and health. People who express gratitude lower their blood pressure, get better quality sleep, improve their relationships, decrease their depression levels, and are less affected by pain. Out of the two factors – gratitude and humor-gratitude is the top predictor of happiness. When you feel thankful for things you have received or something that has happened that is gratitude. Who is responsible may be a loved one, a stranger, or a higher power. Canadian researchers found that people who wrote thankful letters or performed good deeds for a six-week period decreased their pain, upped their energy, accomplished more every day, and improved their mental health for up to six months. Swedish researchers have found that people ages 77 to 90 who choose to be thankful are less likely to dwell on their chances of growing frail. When they can’t change something they choose gratitude, walking on their own legs, still being alive, and living by themselves. As the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh points out, every blessing is the gift of the whole universe. When we stop and really look, we see that we are supported continuously in countless ways. Our morning spiritual practice is the gift of generations of teachers and writers that observed the truth and shared what they learned.
Gratitude is contagious, as well. One study found that when someone is thanked, it more than doubles his or her chances of being helpful again. One likes the reaction one gets when one rewards a stranger who opens the door for us at a mall.
This give and take can also deepen intimacy when your partner regularly expresses appreciation for you. In one study expression of gratitude made partners more responsible for one another’s well-being and more satisfied with the relationship.
Once Joni Mitchel sang, ” You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” The failure to notice what we have, including a roof over our head and someone to love, just create pernicious obstacles to thankfulness. The 13th- century mystic Meister Eckhart counseled, ” If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘Thank You,’ that would suffice.
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