At Education Week this year, I went to a class that was completely about gratitude. The cute lady had had a personal experience where she noticed that she was able to lift her mood by trying to count her blessings (the whole story is a little long, but the gist is that her husband moved her to NYC after a lifetime of living in Georgia, and she was depressed about it. She was walking through the cold, dreary streets of NY, thinking of how Georgia was sunny and warm at that time of year, and was having a pity party with herself. She noticed a woman who could barely walk, and thought to herself, "well, at least I can walk." And she noticed her mood lifted a bit. She decided to list other blessings, and noticed she felt much better.).
This experience was the catalyst for her obsession with studying gratitude for almost a whole year after that. She read book after book, study after study on the effects of being grateful, keeping a gratitude journal, gratitude visits (where you write a grateful note, and then take it to the person you wrote it to and read it to him or her in person), etc.
My experience in that class got me all fired up about helping myself and my family be more grateful. I came home and looked up all the positive benefits I could find (I tried to write them all down in the class, but she moved too fast), so that I could share them with my family and others. I am not going to list all of the books and sites and references and studies, because BORING; but let's just say there are MANY of each. If you want to start to research it yourself, and good place to start is by googling "Martin Seligman gratitude." Martin Seligman is one of the main gratitude/positive mood guys. You can also google "effects of gratitude," or "studies on gratitude."
Also, the WSJ had a GREAT article on gratitude yesterday, summing up a lot of what you will find in my list, and specifically emphasizing helping kids be more grateful. You can find the article HERE.
Here is the list of the benefits of gratitude I put together (these are in no particular order, and you will notice some refer directly to people in various studies. Also, I didn't edit much for grammar or spelling. I was going to make this a nice, well-written article, but I wasn't getting around to it, so I decided just to post it):
BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE
People studied were happier and less depressed 3 months and 6 months later (even if they had stopped their gratitude journaling)
Balances heart rhythms
Lowers heart attack risk
Decreases physical symptoms of pain and illness
Increases our sense of well-being
Exponential growth in joy—the more often you tap into joy, the more joyous you feel, and the deeper you feel it.
Increased immune function. Grateful people get sick less frequently.
People who keep gratitude journals exercise more.
Wards off depression and anxiety--25% happier overall—three weeks of keeping a gratitude journal, and people were still happier even 6 months after the study.
more optimistic about the week ahead
feel better about their lives
Goal Setting: When it came to setting goals, the gratitude group was making great progress toward important goals within a two months period. Goals such as health based, academic and inter personal were getting much closer with the gratitude group. On the other hand, those who didn’t practice daily gratitude failed to make progress.
More enthusiasm
Higher level of awareness
Increased problem solving skills. 60% better ability at tri-bond.
More determination
More positive energy
More helpful towards others
People with neuromuscular disease (21 day gratitude intervention) had greater amounts of high energy positive moods and greater sense of feeling connected with others.
More optimistic about the week ahead.
Sleep better and are able to stay asleep. Better duration and quality.
Fall asleep more quickly.
More alert
More attentive.
More likely to help someone with a problem—especially emotional problems
Felt more grateful
Greater vitality
Lower levels of depression
Lower levels of stress
The disposition toward gratitude enhances pleasant feeling states.
More empathetic
More generous
People who engage in prayer are more likely to be grateful.
Grateful people place less importance on material goods
Less likely to judge their own and others success in terms of possessions accumulated
Less envious of others
More likely to share their possessions with others relative to less grateful persons
4 times a week for as little as 3 weeks is enough to create a meaningful difference in one level of happiness.
Increase in connectedness to other people.
People who are grateful (and have a more positive outlook on life) are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Increases brain function.
Feel better about their lives—more satisfaction
More optimistic about the future
Fewer health problems
Felt more refreshed in the morning
Improves cognitive functioning—some research shows it helps decrease risk of Alzheimer's
Counteracts negative effects of stress.
Reduces effects of Fibromyalgia
Higher levels of control of their environments, personal growth, purpose in life and self acceptance.
Have more positive ways of coping with difficulties in life, are more likely to seek support from other people, spend more time planning how to deal with the problem.
Less negative coping strategies, less likely to try to avoid the problem, deny the problem, blames themselves, or cope through substance abuse.
Has been said to have one of the strongest links with mental health of any character trait.
Cope better with life transitions.
ETC., ETC., ETC.!
The whole concept is just amazing. And yet it shouldn't be surprising at all. It is just another example of the world finding evidence to support something that the Gospel of Christ has been telling us to do for years.
Doctrine and Covenants 78:19 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.
Keep up all of the Gratitude lists!
4 comments:
LOVE this!
I'm grateful for YOU!
I wish I'd been at that class. At one point in college I was good about writing 2-3 things down that I was greatful for nightly. Now once-ish a week is what I manage. You're inspiring me to do better.
Great post! Thank you so much.
I'm going to try this as part of my "weight loss" program... which is currently non-existent with Sophia, but maybe it will get me started. LOVE THIS LIST!!! FHE tonight.
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