In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.
Feeling full of Gratitude
Download: https://gohhs.com/2vCHJK
People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. They can apply it to the past (retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings), the present (not taking good fortune for granted as it comes), and the future (maintaining a hopeful and optimistic attitude). Regardless of the inherent or current level of someone's gratitude, it's a quality that individuals can successfully cultivate further.
Two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, have done much of the research on gratitude. In one study, they asked all participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on particular topics.
One group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred during the week. A second group wrote about daily irritations or things that had displeased them, and the third wrote about events that had affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation.
Another leading researcher in this field, Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, tested the impact of various positive psychology interventions on 411 people, each compared with a control assignment of writing about early memories. When their week's assignment was to write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness, participants immediately exhibited a huge increase in happiness scores. This impact was greater than that from any other intervention, with benefits lasting for a month.
Other studies have looked at how being grateful can improve relationships. For example, a study of couples found that individuals who took time to express gratitude for their partner not only felt more positive toward the other person but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about their relationship.
Write a thank-you note. You can make yourself happier and nurture your relationship with another person by writing a thank-you letter or email expressing your enjoyment and appreciation of that person's impact on your life. Send it, or better yet, deliver and read it in person if possible. Make a habit of sending at least one gratitude letter a month. Once in a while, write one to yourself.
This project challenged me in many new and wonderful ways. The rewards of which I am still processing and feeling immense gratitude for. I feel like it has helped me to continue to develop my group facilitation skills within a community development project, and it proved once again that dance and movement holds great power to connect, engage and empower.
Expressing gratitude is more than courtesy, manners, or being polite. It's about showing your heartfelt appreciation. When you thank someone, you're also practicing the first two gratitude skills: you've noticed something good, and you've genuinely appreciated it.
Powerful people in the upper echelons of organizations have plenty to be grateful for, but new Cornell research indicates that higher-power individuals feel and express less gratitude to their subordinates.
Through these studies, the researchers learned that higher-power individuals expressed less gratitude because they felt more entitled to receive favors and benefits from others, while lower-power individuals expressed more gratitude because they felt a stronger pull to cultivate close interpersonal relationships with others.
A positive attitude is formed by the choices we make daily and how we react to situations and others around us. When we brush off disappointment or rude comments, we maintain a positive attitude. Our attitude is also influenced by how well we ignore negative self-talk and accept our current circumstances. There are other ways that people embrace a positive attitude and those include being thankful or practicing gratitude.
When something good or exciting happens, it is easy to be thankful. We appreciate the warm feelings that come with gifts or happy news. Thankfulness involves how we feel in the moment, and like all feelings, eventually, it fades. Thankfulness is a temporary emotional response to a temporary circumstance.
It is important to express thankfulness when something good happens. Being thankful is not inherently bad. It is part of showing appreciation to others or for your good fortune. We are thankful when we get a new job or meet a new friend. However, thankfulness is not enough to keep us in a positive mindset. Setbacks and things that we are most certainly not thankful for will always interfere with our thankfulness. Because of this, we must rely on other ways to maintain a positive attitude. One such way is by expressing gratitude.
Where thankfulness is an emotion, gratitude is an attitude of appreciation under any circumstance. Gratitude involves being thankful, but it is more than that. Gratitude means expressing thankfulness and being appreciative of life daily even when nothing exciting happens.
When you are late for work, your coffee spills in the car, and you realize your socks are two different colors, gratitude is the smile on your face as you reach your destination. Gratitude is your decision that the day is a good day even when evidence points to the opposite. You do not need something good to happen to have gratitude, and when bad things happen, your gratitude does not falter. You know that sad things are just a part of life, and you are happy with the life you lead.
Gratitude is about being content physically and mentally with the state of your life. You may not always be happy, but you can still practice gratitude. In fact, the same study from Berkely asserts that practicing gratitude is not only good for you but for your relationships as well.
So how do you know if you are operating from a spirit of gratitude? As already mentioned, gratitude is an important part of keeping a healthy psychological outlook, but it is closely related to thankfulness. So, what are the differences?
Although gratitude and thankfulness are closely related, gratitude provides you with a longer-lasting feeling of satisfaction and improved well-being. Practicing gratitude is proven to offer many benefits to individuals.
There is no right or wrong way to practice gratitude. Gratitude should be an internal expression of your own thankfulness, but many people find physical acts of gratitude increase and maintain their happiness on a long-term basis.
Below are some suggestions for your own gratitude practice. According to John Hopkins, by choosing a gratitude practice, you are ensuring resilience when times are bad. You are maintaining a positive attitude, and you are lessening your risk of depression.
Expressing gratitude is beneficial in many ways. Thankfulness is also an important value to cultivate. Together, they make the world a kinder and happier place. To maintain good mental and physical health, consider cultivating your own gratitude practice using the above suggestions. Share the idea of gratitude with your friends and loved ones. Remember, your attitude is always within your control-make it a grateful one!
It can be easy to get swept away in the fast lane and forget to stop and show your appreciation for what you do have. A life well lived is one of gratitude and thankfulness. To help you on your gratitude journey, here are 8 ways to have more gratitude in your daily life.
Western Buddhist master Jack Kornfield remembers an exercise he did with a man who was caring for his grandson while his son and daughter-in-law battled a drug addiction. Despite all that he had been through, the man was still able to find gratitude for the amount of compassion he had learned to show and the impact he was able to have on other people.
For many people, the key to having more gratitude is to give back to others in their local community. Not only will it make you more grateful for the things that you may take for granted, but studies have shown that volunteering for the purpose of helping others increases our own well-being, and thus our ability to have more gratitude.
Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we took the same enthusiasm that we have at Thanksgiving and applied that to our daily lives? Science has shown that living with a grateful heart can have powerful changes that touch your entire life, not to mention the lives of others. From better sleep and increased patience, to improved relationships and overall well-being, studies have proven that gratitude is more than just a state of mind.
We have all heard or read many definitions of gratitude, but experiencing gratitude at its core requires a conscious effort. How many times do we say 'thank you' without taking a moment to actually feel thankful?
Psychologists have highly researched gratitude and find it to be among the main focuses of positive psychology. Evidence suggests that people who consciously count their blessings tend to be happier and less depressed. But how?
Research has found that people who tend to be more grateful have more brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, the area associated with learning and decision making. This brain activity persisted a month later, suggesting that gratitude has long-lasting effects.
Besides reducing and countering negative emotions, practicing gratitude is linked to other healthy behaviors, such as working out. Research has also associated gratitude with more robust immune systems, fewer aches and pains, lower blood pressure, and a deeper, more restoring sleep. 2ff7e9595c
Kommentarer