Give Thanks In All Things

Goal #3-Be Grateful

This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

If
you’ve been reading any of my blogs for a while you will know how fully
I embrace the practice of writing down what you are thankful for. I am
talking about getting a stack of paper and a pen and listing each
person and every thing you appreciate or love. I know this can be a
timely project however your well-being may depend on recalling all you
enjoy and that blesses your life in one way or another. Recognizing
and writing down your “gratitude list” is especially important when you
are feeling stressed, worried, overwhelmed or questioning your goals or
accomplishments in life. Constantly reminding ourselves of our
blessings creates a better attitude and outlook as well as deeper
spiritual, emotional, and physical connections to life and to the people
around us.

“Being happy does not mean having what you want, but wanting what you have.”
Rabbi H. Schachtel

Thousands
of years of literature talk about the benefits of cultivating
gratefulness as a virtue and my intention today is to encourage you to
be thankful even if you’re going through a tough time. There are
multiple scientific studies that show how living with an attitude of
gratitude really does improve your life.

In Robert
Emmons book, “Thanks! How The New Science of Gratitude Can Make You
Happier” he reports on several studies. In the first, he and his
colleagues divided participants into three groups, each of which made
weekly entries in a journal. One group wrote five things they were
grateful for. Another group described five daily hassles and a control
group listed five events that had affected them in some way. Those in
the gratitude group felt better about their lives overall, were more
optimistic about the future, and reported fewer health problems than the
other participants. Results from a second study suggested that daily
writing led to a greater increase in gratitude than weekly practice.

In
another study he discovered how people using daily gratitude journals
report more satisfaction with
their lives and are more optimistic about the future than people who
don’t. Interestingly, grateful people also report getting more
sleep, spending less time awake before falling asleep and feeling more
refreshed in the morning.

Researchers at the University of Connecticut found that gratitude can
have a protective effect against heart attacks. Studying people who had
experienced one heart attack, the researchers found that those patients
who saw benefits and gains from their heart attack, such as becoming
more appreciative of life, experienced a lower risk of having another
heart attack.

Hopefully I’ve convinced you that living a
life of gratitude is the only way to live. There are so, so many
reason to be thankful…always. Oh…and don’t forget to say “thank
you” when someone does something nice for you or pays you a compliment!

For more specific ideas on how to set your goals you can read one of my posts from January 2014 here:
Goal Setting 101

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have
been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of
thanksgiving.”

H.U. Westermayer