Improve your life by being thankful for what you have
linked to better sleep, increased happiness, feeling more in control, being optimistic, more altruistic and determined to achieve our goals.
Gratitude is also associated with physical health benefits including fewer ailments such as headaches and infections and increased immune function.
In fact, some psychologists believe that being grateful is the most important factor in achieving positive mental wellbeing.
Three simple ways to practise more gratitude in your daily life are: ■ KEEP a record of the things you’re grateful for. Keep a gratitude journal, voice-record your gratitude thoughts or jot them down and collect them in a jar. Every so often, go back and reflect on all the things you have to be thankful for.
■ YOU can keep your gratitude practice fresh by challenging yourself to broaden your awareness of what you have to be thankful for. Pay attention to the small things like the warmth of your coat on a cold day, the opportunity to sit down and relax after a long day at work, or an affectionate hug from your partner. It’s the small stuff that, taken together over time, can make a big difference to our wellbeing.
■ DON’T forget to express your gratitude. When someone does something nice for you, let them know you appreciate it. As well as boosting your own wellbeing, you’ll make others feel good too.
Dr Ellie Milby is a counselling psychologist
THIS week I met a woman who had recently undergone treatment for cancer. One of the side effects of her treatment was that she had lost all sense of pleasure when eating.
She no longer craves her favourite foods, her mouth doesn’t water in anticipation of eating and she no longer experiences the satisfaction of feeling her hunger satiated.
It made me stop and think how grateful I am that I get such enjoyment from eating. Something up until now, I had taken for granted.
Practising gratitude – the art of acknowledging and giving thanks for what we have in life – can have a huge impact on our wellbeing.
It sounds so simple, and yet human nature means that unfortunately we don’t intuitively focus on what we have to be thankful for.
Our survival instincts mean we’re hardwired to focus on the negatives – our problems, our worries, our dissatisfaction with life – the result being that we often don’t give a second thought to the things we have to be thankful for until either they go wrong, we lose them or someone else’s misfortune brings them sharply into focus.
While it may not come naturally, there is compelling evidence that it is worth investing time and effort into reprogramming ourselves by regularly being thankful.
Practising gratitude has been