Nov 27, 2019
When you are anxious, depressed, angry and even worse, suicidal; the last thing you are thinking about is being grateful. Yet gratitude can help us gain our personal strength to fight through the times we are weakest and at our most vulnerable.
During these next few weeks with the hustle and bustle of the holidays; this can be a very tough time for people. We see an uptick in suicides during this season. Everyone has forgotten their manners and seem to only care to get their, me, mine, most on. We forget that others are hurting and struggling. Being grateful can be a great way to remember what this time is really for.
A Harvard study by Drs. Robert A. Emmons of UC Davis and Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami found that over a ten week period, participants who wrote about things they were grateful for were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. They exercised more and had fewer trips to the doctors office. They were happier in general than the participants who only wrote about the negative.
Writing in a gratitude journal can be a great way to positively affect your mood. Especially during the holidays and we are so busy trying to please everyone with a lot of nonsense, if you need to bring your self back to earth. Gratitude might be the tether you need to smile again.
It doesn't take any extra energy to be grateful, it just might provide fuel to live your best life or just help you live another day.