Why You Should Keep A Gratitude Journal

Very often we have been told to be thankful for what we have even when something unfortunate happens. Research has shown that being thankful is a beneficial habit to your long-term health and wellbeing. In recent years, keeping a gratitude journal has also become a popular tool used by those seeking to improve themselves.

I'm not sure if you're already doing it, but if not, here are five reasons on why you should keep a gratitude journal. I am using one already and you probably should consider it too.

#1 Changing Thought Patterns 

Studies have shown a strong mind-body connection. When we are feeling stressed, anxious or another negative emotion it can have a negative effect on our physical health. By considering those circumstances, events or people you are thankful for, you are creating positive thoughts and feelings which will help reduce stress levels. It will also remind you that whatever happens to you there is always something to feel thankful for.

Your commitment to your gratitude journal refocuses your mind on positive events, conversations and relationships. This enables you to see more than just those negative ones that tend to fill your mind and dominate your thoughts when they happen.

Another way your thought patterns will change is that you will find that you start pushing boundaries and removing limiting beliefs. This will happen as you not only keep your gratitude journal but also review it. You will find that your mind opens to new possibilities and you gain in self-confidence and knowledge.

#2 Improve Your Health 

The fact that there is a mind-body connection means that by focusing on positive thoughts and feelings in your gratitude journal you are helping to improve your physical and mental health. Studies have shown that regular gratitude journaling can relieve stress and anxiety, improve sleep, increase creativity and gain new insights.

#3 Create Optimism 

Some days it's just too hard to see the wood for the trees. You'll find yourself focusing on something that has upset you and that troublesome thought will nag away at you constantly. Taking some time to sit quietly and think about something you are grateful for will help reduce the negative thoughts and feelings and replace them with positive ones.

#4 Improved Sleep 

Whether you feel the need for eight hours sleep each night, your body and mind do require a regular amount of sleep each night for optimal mental and physical health. Keeping a gratitude journal is fun, calming and a positive activity that promotes happy thoughts and feelings. By replacing worry and stress, you can sleep more peacefully and have happier dreams.

#5 It's Fun To Do It! 

Keeping a gratitude journal should be a fun enjoyable experience; something you look forward to. It doesn't matter whether you use a plain notebook or a really fancy one, you can jazz it up by using different colored pens or pencils, or even decorating the pages.

If you want to create a positive change in yourself and your life, keeping a gratitude journal may just be the tool you are looking for. It's cheap, easy and very beneficial to your physical and mental health.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-You-Should-Keep-A-Gratitude-Journal&id=9574273

The Wisdom of Being Thankful When You're Not (By Steve Wickham)

Today I'm thankful, right now, that I feel alert, despite the lack of sleep; that I managed six hours when it could have been five.

I'm wearing nice clothes, even though I ironed them and I hate ironing. The fact that I'm wearing clothes, and clothes that fit me, that I bought by choice, even though I may not have been deliriously happy at the time. Yes, I have too many clothes I no longer wear, and not enough that I can, but it's also true that I have clothes.

It's going to be a hot day, and I'll be back out there soon, but at present I'm in air conditioned comfort, and, what's more, the day is cool at present.

Despite being too early for an appointment, I have some minutes to muse. It's a luxury I don't often enough have, so boredom is not an option to choose, besides, if I'm intentional about what I think about, this time could prove invaluable. And that task is to be thankful. It's a good task that will keep me from mental-harm's way.

I have money to pay for overpriced airport food and beverages. Instead of complaining, I'll be thankful that, at present, I can feed myself, and that I had the choice to buy or not to buy.

Despite having a big day ahead, I have the privilege of not having a boring day; that there is even a probability that I'll feel challenged and fulfilled today.

It annoys me that I now have to wear spectacles, and cleaning them constantly is frustrating, but at least I can still see... and read... and watch.

I'm regularly so busy that it troubles my spirit, being that I live to serve God by serving others, but at least I can be thankful that there's no shortage of purpose in my life.

I'm married to the creature of my fantasy, who delights me, though she does also at times annoy me; with her wisdom. She makes me feel safe without indulging me too much.

I have a delight of a son, who, though I'll be tired, I'm delighted to get up to during the night when I won't get to see him in the morning, as I'm off to work too early.

I caught up with one of my adult daughters recently, and, even though it made my day busier than I'd planned, it was an unexpected joy, especially as we're all busy.

***

Being thankful when we aren't; that's the wisdom of being thankful. We wouldn't need to be thankful if we already were.

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Wisdom-of-Being-Thankful-When-Youre-Not&id=9598140

Practicing Gratitude Can Increase Happiness by 25%

Psychological research finds that people’s happiness levels are remarkably stable over the long-term. Whether you win the lottery or are paralysed from the neck down, after about three to six months you’ll have returned to your usual level of happiness. While these findings are deeply counter-intuitive, they also raise a serious problem for those wanting to increase levels of happiness permanently.

A possible answer comes from recent research in the psychology of gratitude. Yes, you read that correctly – being thankful might be the key to raising your happiness ‘set-point’. And there is some good experimental evidence to back up this theory.

Counting blessings versus burdens

In his new book ‘thanks!‘, Dr. Robert A. Emmons describes research he carried out with three experimental groups over 10 weeks (Emmons & McCullough, 2003):

1. The first group were asked to write down five things they were grateful for that had happened in the last week for each of the 10 weeks of the study. This was called the gratitude condition.
2. The second group were asked to write down five daily hassles from the previous week. This was the hassles condition.
3. The third group simply listed five events that had occurred in the last week, but not told to focus on positive or negative aspects. This was the events or control condition.

The types of things people listed in the grateful condition included:

• Sunset through the clouds.
• The chance to be alive.
• The generosity of friends.

And in the hassles condition:

• Taxes.
• Hard to find parking.
• Burned my macaroni and cheese.

Before the experiment began participants had kept daily journals to chronicle their moods, physical health and general attitudes. These was then used to provide a comparison for after the experimental intervention.

Happiness up 25%

People who were in the gratitude condition felt fully 25% happier – they were more optimistic about the future, they felt better about their lives and they even did almost 1.5 hours more exercise a week than those in the hassles or events condition.

All this from reflecting on the pleasure of having seen the sunset through the clouds? Dr Emmons also expresses surprise at the findings of the study, partly because there are some reasons practising gratitude might not be so good.

For example, focussing on gratitude reminds us what we owe to others. This may in turn remind us of our dependence on others and reduce a sense of personal control. Thinking in terms of gratitude may also focus us on the debts we owe to others and, studies have shown, people don’t enjoy feeling indebted to others.

Just the effect of positive comparisons, or really gratitude?

Yet, despite these reasons why gratitude might not increase happiness, it seems that it does. But does the benefit from the gratitude condition simply result from thinking about how we are better off than others?

In a second study, very similar to the first described above, Emmons and McCullough changed one of the control conditions. Instead of asking people to write down any events from the week, people were asked to list ways in which they were better off than others. The idea was that in this condition people are making positive comparisons but are not necessarily thinking gratefully (although it can’t be ruled out!).

Again, though, the results showed that those in the gratitude condition were significantly happier than those making positive comparisons between themselves and others. Unsurprisingly those practising being grateful were also happier than those focussing on daily hassles.

Gratitude can help those with chronic health problems

A good criticism of the first two studies was that they were carried out in undergraduate students. It’s all very well increasing the happiness of young, healthy college students, but what about people with serious, chronic health problems?

In a third study Emmons and McCullough recruited adults who had neuromuscular disorders, often as a delayed result of surviving infection by the polio virus. While not life-threatening the condition can be seriously debilitating, causing joint and muscle pain as well as muscle atrophy. People with this condition have a good reason to be dissatisfied with the hand life has dealt them.

In this study a gratitude condition was compared to a control condition in which participants wrote about their daily experience. After the 21 day study, participants in the gratitude condition were found to be more satisfied with their lives overall, more optimistic about the upcoming week and crucially, were sleeping better. Good sleep is important as it has been found to be a great indicator of overall well-being. People who sleep well are generally healthier and happier than those whose sleep is poor.

Practising gratitude

Even if gratefulness has benefits in the short-term, it still raises more long-term questions. What are the major obstacles to living a grateful life? Can gratefulness really increase happiness over a lifetime? Finally, how exactly can gratefulness be increased? It’s this last question that I’ll be addressing in the next post with Dr Emmons’ top ten methods for practising gratitude.

http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/09/practicing-gratitude-can-increase.php