When you cultivate an attitude of gratitude, something wonderful happens. You experience a greater sense of wellbeing and contentment, and you start to notice the abundance in every corner of your life.
Whether you are spending time in nature, with your friends, family, colleagues, or community, or pursuing sacred hobbies, interests, your studies or career, or the simple fact that you have good health, a roof over your head and food on the table.
Studies have shown that when we practice gratitude we take better care of ourselves. People who kept a gratitude journal for a week reported fewer physical problems, ate healthier, exercsied more often and got regular check-ups. Being grateful also makes you kinder, more generous, less materialistic, more forgiving and better able to deal with the stresses of life.
When I started to cultivate an attitude of gratitude in March 2020, I noticed that I became more mindful and present to the moment and spent much less time on autopilot. This has helped me to become calmer, more relaxed, energised, motivated and focused on the things that matter in my life. The most important gift I have received from practising gratitude is that I am able to give my full attention when it matters, instead of being easily distracted by my phone for example.
The net effect of all these benefits is that gratitude can add upto 7 years to your life if practiced regularly and this is a scientifically proven fact.
So, why does gratitude equal so much positivity?
Well, according to a study carried out on the brains of Buddhist monks, it was revealed that when we think positive thoughts of kindness, gratitude and optimism, we activate the right side of our prefrontal cortex (the brains executive centre that play a central role in cogntitive control functions), releasing happy hormones into our body, which in turn elevates our mood in the short term and strengthens our immune system in the long run. Conversely, when we think negative, angry, or pessimistic thoughts we activate the right side of our prefrontal cortex, flooding our body with stress hormones, sending us into flight or flight mode, depressing our mood and supressing our immune system.
In other words, how we choose to think affects how we feel, and being grateful can make us feel great!
Gratitude Jar Exercise
Each day write down three things that you are grateful for on a scrap of paper, no matter how small they seem and put them in a jar. This could be anything from receiving a smile from a stranger, a promotion at work or a postcard from an old friend. Even on days when it feels like nothing has gone well, we can almost always find something that we are grateful for.
Finding three positive things about each day is a great mindset to be in and on a bad day you can reach inside your jar and pull out a note to bounce back to a positive frame of mind.