There is much to be concerned or anxious about in this world. It seems that everywhere we turn there is conflict and anger, hostility and poor communication, vindictiveness and selfishness, lack of integrity and injustices. The list is long. These things are with us and we can either let it all overwhelm us or we can choose not to engage in, or with, such negative behaviours. We can choose to be upright and honest, an example of integrity and justice and choose to contribute to making the world a better place. One way we can make it better for ourselves and others is to practice gratitude. In the midst of trauma and storms, grief and despair, if we look for it, there will be something for which we can be grateful.
As humans we are blessed to be able to experience emotion. Gratitude is a powerful emotion. Gratitude means to be thankful or grateful. In English we say thank you but the Spanish “Gracias” reminds us of gratitude. Expressions of thankfulness make us feel good and make the recipient of our thankfulness feel good. According to Madhuleena Chodhury1, couples who express gratitude to each other regularly are more likely to stay together- and be happy. She goes on to say that gratitude builds professional commitment and improves health while building optimism, selflessness, empathy and self esteem. There is a study (Zahn et al 2014)2, that even shows people with an attitude of gratitude have more grey matter in their brains. We think with our grey matter! Amazing eh?
Gratitude releases toxic emotions, improves sleep, reduces pain, helps regulate stress, reduces anxiety and depression and gives us higher sense of care for our fellow world travellers.3 Why would we not want to embrace such an attitude? What have we got to lose?
How can we cultivate an attitude of gratitude? We can consciously choose to be grateful. A gratitude journal may help with this. There are multiple apps or you can just get a good old fashioned handwritten journal and make a daily entry each day describing something for which you are grateful. Some people benefit from a gratitude buddy. Visiting or calling someone with the express intent of making them aware of your gratitude for something they have done – affirming them – will build your own well being. Gratitude builds resilience and resilience is something we all need in our too busy, too loud, to overwhelming 2024 world.
The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Old advice but good advice and Science backs it up. God knows what is good for us.
You may want to do some more exploring on this topic. Read Madhuleena’s article – first reference below.
In addition here are some books that I have found helpful in my journey.
Hugh Van Cuylenburg. The Resilience Project: Finding happiness through Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness.
Lillian Carlyle. Awaken your gratitude.
Dan Pronk. The Resilience Shield.
Gretchen Rubin. The Happiness Project.
There are many similar books. I am grateful for life and family and so much more. Today, I choose to try and make the world a better place for the people around me and I pledge to practice an attitude of gratitude. You?
References
Zahn, R., Moll, J., Krueger, F., Huey, E. D., Garrido, G., & Grafman, J. (2007). Social concepts are represented in the superior anterior temporal cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(15), 6430-6435. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0607061104
Chowdhury,M. (2019). The Neuroscience of Gratitude and Effects on the Brain. Positive Psychology. April 9, 2019. https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/#how
Zahn, R., Garrido, G., Moll, J., and Grafman, J. (2014). Individual differences in posterior cortical volume correlate with proneness to pride and gratitude. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 9, 1676–1683. doi: 10.1093/scan/nst158
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Contemplations with Dr Cherelle 