Being grateful and giving thanks can lead to feeling happier and being healthier. The catch is...you have to do it every day!
Here are some findings from gratitude research as reported by Robert A. Emmons, Universitity of California, Davis, and Michael E. McCullough, University of Miami, and their Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness
* In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
* A related benefit was observed in the realm of personal goal attainment: Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions.
* Participants in the daily gratitude condition were more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or having offered emotional support to another, relative to the hassles or social comparison condition.
* In a sample of adults with neuromuscular disease, a 21-day gratitude intervention resulted in greater amounts of high energy positive moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, more optimistic ratings of one’s life, and better sleep duration and sleep quality, relative to a control group.
* Children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families (Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008).
* Prosociality: People with a strong disposition toward gratitude have the capacity to be empathic and to take the perspective of others. They are rated as more generous and more helpful by people in their social networks (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002).
* Materialism: Grateful individuals place less importance on material goods; they are less likely to judge their own and others success in terms of possessions accumulated; they are less envious of others; and are more likely to share their possessions with others.
Being grateful one day a year on Thanksgiving won't do it. Can't think of anything? You could start with being alive and breathing..
Here are some other ideas...
- start a gratefulness journal
- say "thanks" to at least 5 people today, or 5 times to the same person for something nice they did or maybe just for being them
- teach a child to be grateful
What else should we add to the ideas list?
Happy Thanksgiving! and thanks for reading this article...
phofo:morguefile
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