A Simple Antidote

A Deceptively Simple Antidote to Stress

Yes, it is the most wonderful time of the year and yet it is also a time filled with stress, depression, and anxiousness.

We live in a stressful world, feeling perpetually behind the eight ball, connected to the entire world through our technology but often disconnected from each other and from ourselves. Rates of anxiety and depression are skyrocketing. But there is an antidote to all of this: Gratitude.

Gratitude is such a light-sounding word for an emotion that’s so powerful. But there’s a reason why it shares the same Latin root —?gratus?— as the word?grace. Living in a state of gratitude is our gateway to grace — and a vital part of our well-being.

Gratitude helps us reset and gives us perspective. When we practice it, it sets off a chain reaction of positive benefits.

It’s something the ancients certainly knew — and this wisdom has since been confirmed by a mountain of hard science, as the list of what gratitude can do is seemingly endless.

Martin Seligman, of the University of Pennsylvania — and one of the founders of the field of positive psychology — has shown that the benefits of a single gratitude exercise, writing and delivering a thank you letter — can last for an entire month.

Gratitude has also been found to lower levels of stress and depression and improve sleep. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine discovered that gratitude exercises can lower levels of inflammation, which improves heart health.

Whenever you find yourself in that stop-the-world-I-want-to-escape mindset — gratitude is your key. It gives us perspective and allows us to reset and recharge.

Every day I try to write down a few things I’m grateful for. It focuses my mind on all the many blessings in my life, big and small — and shrinks the list of unresolved problems.

Of course, we all have a mix of both in our lives, but it’s up to us to choose which frames our outlook and our daily lives.

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all the others.” - Cicero

We shouldn't need a holiday or a season to find our gratitude instead we should acknowledge it for each and every day we are given.

Take a moment after you read this and sit in a moment of gratitude.

And for those celebrating, I hope you and your family have a wonderful and Happy Thankssgiving!

Until Next Time, Melanie

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