Daily Gratitude Helped My Emotions

I remember years ago having a gratitude journal, which I still have to this day. I looked back at it recently, and I couldn’t help but smile. They were very short, and some were just one sentence long, whereas others were a bit longer. ?I am so blessed I thought as the amount of people who have shown me love and support when I least expected it has been fantastic.??I even wrote a passage after my dad passed away:?16/03/2017 “ I’m grateful that I got to spend time with my dad before he left this Earth. God gave me strength to support him. I’m grateful for good friends…”.

Gratitude journalling greatly improves our overall wellness, and for me being in chronic pain, this was just as important, as it increases positive emotions. I was grateful for my pain, even though I was suffering on a scale of 11/10, I focused on so much that was positive. My kids being healthy, a loving husband, caring friends, a roof over my head. I only chose 3 things a day, and sometimes I would write them down, however a majority of the time I would say them whilst brushing my teeth, or first thing in the morning.

I didn’t find feeling grateful difficult as it was something I was already doing, just not as much as I had liked since my father had passed away. I knew how beneficial it was for me. According to Psychology Today resilience, optimism, and quality sleep help reduce chronic pain. We can build a sense of abundance and really help our sleep to reduce the effects of pain.

Gratitude increases our wellbeing, and we start paying more attention to our thoughts, and understanding more about ourselves. Releasing negative emotions of anger, or frustration, and really noticing something positive in that day.

Robert Emmons, a Professor of Psychology in California, studied the effects of gratitude on over 1,000 people. The participants ranged in age from eight to eighty, and were split into two groups.

One group was asked to keep a journal in which they were to write five ‘gifts’ that they were grateful for each day, while the other group had to write down five ‘hassles’.

Some of the ‘gifts’ people noted were generosity of friends, and watching a sunset through the clouds. Examples of ‘hassles’ were things like difficulty in finding a parking space, and burning their dinner.

Emmons found that those who had kept a gratitude journal experienced significant psychological, physical, and social benefits with a 25% improvement in overall health and wellbeing in comparison with the group focussing on what had gone wrong each day.

With being grateful on a consistent basis we can increase our energy levels, and this may be by going for a walk, and understanding why we need that energy to be able to exercise. This will help our mental health, and reduce pain symptoms.

Gratitude can been seen as a natural anti depressant according to Emily Fletcher, founder of Ziva, a well known meditation training site. Expressing and receiving gratitude allows the brain to release dopamine and serotonin, which are both important components for our emotions, and make us feel good, and be internally happy. Strengthening the neural pathways every day like we would a muscle, will help us be positive.

I remember when I was being coached having 5 levels of gratitude:

Level 1: No gratitude

Level 2: Surface level gratitude

Level 3: Grateful for know what’s coming

Level 4: Appreciation of the bad, and appreciation of the struggle

Level 5: There is no bad

3 takeaways:

1. What are 3 good things that have happened in your day? Write them down, or verbally say them to yourself.
2. It doesn't have to be a big thing. It could be as simple as having time to enjoy a cup of tea.
3. Make it a habit in your daily life. There are always going to be struggles, however if we can allow our thoughts to keep focusing on the positive, this will help our emotions.