“Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot” – Hausa Proverb
Your 7 day gratitude challenge starts today. Join the movement and live better!
It can be easy to focus on the things that make us feel down, instead of thinking about the good things in our lives. These days there is often far too much emphasis on the negative. Bad news sells – and the media has a tendency to focus on all the bad things going on in the world. There is however, good news and good things go on each day in our own lives. Sometimes these good things might not be obvious on first glance but they are there and sometimes we just need to remind ourselves of what those good things are.
Take a minute and think about what your answers would be to the two questions below:
How many times a day do you focus on things that annoy you? Did someone cut you up driving to work? Did someone not reply to your text message in time? Was the house a mess when you got home? Again?
How many times a day do you focus on the things you are grateful for? Once, twice, none?
Is gratitude just the next craze in health and wellbeing?
Well research would say otherwise, and we here at My Possible Self agree. There is a reason why gratitude isn’t just a fad and has been around for many years in both spiritual and religious practices. Two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, carried out research on gratitude. In one study, they asked all participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on particular topics.
One group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred during the week. The second group wrote about things that irritated them or things they were not happy about, and the third wrote about events that had affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on the negatives.
Other studies have looked at how gratitude can also improve relationships. For example, a study of couples found that individuals who took time to express gratitude for their partner not only felt more positive towards the other person but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about their relationship.
Managers who remember to say “thank you” to people who work for them may find that those employees feel motivated to work harder.
Join our 7 day gratitude challenge starting today.
We challenge you start counting your blessings. It’s easy to get started:
1. Write down the things that you are grateful for and refer back to them each day. Your list might include your family, friends and health or it may include simple things like your morning coffee, the sunshine or your favourite song on the radio.
2. Start each day by telling someone that you’re grateful for them and explain why.
3. Block out 30 minutes each day to do something for YOURSELF.
Join our challenge and let us know what puts a smile on your face each day for the next 7 days!
The My Possible Self app which will be available on the Apple and Google Play Store includes a happiness and wellbeing module which focuses on gratitude.
