10 Ways Gratitude Increases Your Quality of Life

We live in a crazy world.

Perhaps never before have we been so bombarded by stressful situations as we go about our day to day lives.?

One of the reasons that drugs are such a problem is that people are looking for ways to cope.?The issue is that drugs and other coping mechanisms can be incredibly destructive and, in some cases, deadly.

The cases of depression, anxiety, suicide, and other mental health issues have approached record levels since the pandemic.

With the roller coaster of life there are coping mechanisms that can help you and be healthy at the same time.

Say hello to Gratitude

A gratitude mindset can give you the roadmap to successfully navigate the often-choppy waters of life.?

It starts with a basic principle of focusing on and appreciating what you have.

?“Gratitude turns what you have into enough”

An attitude of gratitude helps you to completely concentrate on your blessings and abundance.

There are many things that can help us through these trying times.?They take effort, but the rewards are many.

When I was younger, I would always ask the same question:?“I don’t understand why people don’t take better care of themselves”. You only have one body and one brain, and it would seem to make sense to take care of both.

But for some reason, people abuse their bodies and then they wonder why they don’t feel that good physically and mentally later in life.

For years we have been told to take care of the things that mean something to us.?You know, like the family car.?Change the oil, rotate the tires, keep it clean and vacuumed, and the car will be around for a long time.

Maybe people just don’t think that far ahead.?You know the adage, let’s have fun tonight and worry about tomorrow when it gets here.

Here are 10 Ways Gratitude Increases Your Quality of Life:

?1) Physical Health:?Surveys have shown that grateful people experience less aches and pains.?Grateful people are more likely to take care of their health, exercise more often, and schedule regular check-ups.?

Appreciating what we have measurably improves our relationships, our life satisfaction, our health, our sleep, and it improves our physical health leading to fewer aches & pains, lower blood pressure & less depression.?

?2) Mental Health:?Employing a gratitude practice can substantially improve your overall mood and can help a person with challenges such as depression and anxiety.?

Gratitude reduces toxic emotions like envy, resentment, frustration, anger, and aggression and enhances positive emotions like empathy, caring, and sympathy.

Science says that the more you choose positive and kind words to describe yourself, your health, your body, and your progress, the less anxiety you will experience.?

?3) Emotional Health:?After applying gratitude to their life, people report a much higher sense of well-being and sense of calm.?Too much of our time is spend pursuing things we currently don’t have. Gratitude reverses that and realigns our priorities to appreciate what we currently have.?

?4) Happiness:?Gratitude creates a level of happiness and joy not often found in people dealing with a stressful world.?Happiness is rarely constant, so although happiness is a fantastic goal, gratitude for the tools that get you there is more important.

?5) Self-Esteem:?Research has proven that using a gratitude journal helps people to gain more confidence and fight off the effects of Impostor Syndrome.(See below)?We are our own worst critics, and we hold ourselves to impossible standards and we continually compare ourselves to others. The only person we should compare ourselves to, is who we were yesterday.

?6) Relationships:?Individuals that apply the teaching of a gratitude mindset experience deeper and more fulfilling relationships with family and friends.?People who feel good about themselves and their lives are kinder to others.?

You are known by the company that you keep.

I think it is a good idea to once a year take the Association Evaluator Assessment, a sort of inventory of your relationships.?

Here it is:?Think about 0-1-2 people that you should disassociate from, limit your association from, and enhance your association with.?The best litmus test is how you feel after having a cup of coffee with that person.?You can then reevaluate who you should be hanging out with.?It’s hard to stay positive when you are surrounded by negative people.

?7) Doctor Visits:?People that utilize an attitude of gratitude tend to visit the doctor more regularly which increases your chances of pre-emptively identifying potentially debilitating and destructive diseases.

?8) Workplace:?Employees that have a grateful approach to work participate in significantly less gossip and negative relationships.?A recent study concluded that people that wrote in a gratitude journal, participated in significantly less gossip and other toxic behaviors in the workplace.?

?9) Longevity:?Grateful people enjoy a longer more satisfying and fulfilling life well into the retirement years.?It’s been proven that people that have a purpose live 7-10 years longer than people without a purpose.

At the Boeing Company, it was typical for fellow employees to post a retirement notice on the company bulletin board, and an obituary notice for the same person a mere 90 days later.

?10) Purpose:?Surveys say that people report a greater sense of purpose when looking at their life through the lens of gratitude. How easily we can lose sight of everything we have to be thankful for when the circumstances of life become unpleasant. Individuals that have a purpose live 7-10 years longer than those without a purpose.

?Let's have a conversation about how gratitude has impacted the quality of your life. I love to connect with people to hear their stories. Here is my scheduler link:

https://calendly.com/thatgratitudeguy/30-minute-networking-call