Dear readers,
today I'm gonna go straight to the point: why is gratefulness so important? Why it makes us feel so good? Is it something beneficial for our bodies?
Well, before starting: saying "thank you" is something that we do very frequently, but, do we really feel it? Do we really experience gratefulness when we say those simple words?
What I perceive, at least from my experience, is that sometimes we are just too used to the words "thank you" that we forget about their powerful meaning. It happens something similar when we say "sorry" - sometimes more than needed.
But leet's keep this for another time!
So, today I wanna talk about the times we really feel grateful - forget about when you distractedly say "thank you" to a workmate or to the cashier at the supermarket. Of course I'm not saying that you don't have to be thankful to them, but that many times we don't really feel the meaning of those words!
Sooooo...
I don't wanna fall into clichés and preach the importance of little details in our lives we have to be grateful for - we already know that, and constantly forget.
Let's go directly to the benefits that being greateful brings to our psychology and to our bodies:
enhances our positive emotions - the first, visible effect of gratitude, is that it has a strong positive impact on our inner well-being by releasing a rush of neurotransmitters that increase our positive emotions and keep depression away. In other words, it is scientifically proven that experiencing gratitude increases our well-being;
makes us more effective. One of the practical effects of gratitude is that people around us perceive that - and when someone is experiencing sincere gratitude, he's seen as a reliable and serious person, and people tend to give him more important tasks. You see, being grateful can help you in obtaining that job promotion you have always dreamed of!
makes us feel more connected with the others - by practicing gratitude, we also experience empathy and improve the quality of our relationships - job-related relationships, friendships, romantic relationships. Have you ever noticed that the most grateful people are also the ones with the highest number of good-quality relationships?
improves our self-esteem: it is a loop. As we have already pointed out, being grateful can improve our professional and personal life. This, in turn, makes us fulfilled: who doesn't want a fulfilling job and a life full of serene relationships?
lowers our anxiety. Have you noticed that when you're angry at someone you can't sleep well? Do you ever feel nervous and try to solve this by eating junk food or smoking a lot of cigarettes? It is well-known, already: negative emotions create a general situation of stress in our bodies - and for more sensitive people, this leads to problems (anxiety, panic attacks, sleep problems). When we are grateful, we also tend to let go our anger. It is very difficult, I know: but what if, instead of being mad at that person who told us something offensive we are thankful because we understood something important about ourselves? Criticism is good, sometimes, to make us work on ourselves and overcome our limits.
make us giving more: the more you give, the more you get! If you give and you don't expect anything in return, you will get more than you ever imagined!
Well, I could go on forever, there are so many things to be said about this beautiful feeling, but I forgot something very important: how to practice gratitude?
We don't have to go that far: the easiest thing is to start by keeping a gratitude journal - that is, to write, everyday, all the things we are grateful for. This exercise is simple, funny, and makes us connect with little details that we often tend to forget, like the smell of the meal that our loved ones are cooking for us, or the warm water that caresses us while having a shower.
To be honest, the Internet is full of recipes and exercises on how to practice gratitude: I don't want to add more to this huge amount of information. My advice is:
be creative!
Leave a gratitude post-it to your colleagues or housemates, sing a song to someone as a way to say "thank you", bake a cake for someone, not necessarily a friend, volunteer (at a music festival, in a kindergarten, in a permaculture farm, anywhere you want!), take care of a pet or a plant...
... in conclusion...
There are so many things we can do to enhance this feeling of being grateful, but the most important thing is to really feel it: next time you say "thank you", try to experience the feeling, to embody it.
What to say? A big (and heartfelt!) thank you for reading this post. If you think it could help anyone, feel free to share it!
Hugs.