Long before Oprah’s attention caused gratitude journals to soar in popularity Dale Carnegie taught us all to “give honest, sincere appreciation.” And Irving Berlin penned the lyrics “When I’m worried and I can’t sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep.”
People have been encouraging us to get grateful for a long time.
So what’s the great about gratitude?
Well for one thing, it’s good for your health. (I’m grateful that we have lots of research on the subject!) A ten-week study cited in this post tells us that subjects focused on gratitude exercised more, reported fewer complaints and symptoms and reported being 25% happier than others.
Not only are grateful people said to engage in better self-care, some studies link gratitude’s close cousin “optimism” with stronger immune function.
The ability to feel and express gratitude is an important skill to share with our children. I don’t think it matters HOW we teach our kids to share gratitude and appreciation: a blessing before a meal, regular sharing about the best parts of each of our days, practicing good manners, making lists or journaling together are all reasonable choices.
Which one will you try first?
Related articles
- Teaching Kids the Importance of Gratitude
- The Magic of Gratitude
- Monday morning gratitude…
- Gratitude
We like SHARING:
8 Responses to “What’s So Great About Gratitude?”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
[…] What’s So Great About Gratitude? […]
[…] What’s So Great About Gratitude? […]
[…] What’s So Great About Gratitude? (wknts.com) […]
Just about every morning, I start my morning pages with what I’m grateful for. It really helps set the tone for my entire day 🙂
At the end of my day I acknowledge all of the people, events, opportunities, etc. that were a part. Even those things that I might not have been aware of earlier come to light in a new way. So grateful for the ability to acknowledge!
Hi Andrea!
I love that you shared how gratitude has been popular even before Oprah! That made me smile. 🙂
We’re big on gratitude in our family and my son and I share a practice every night called “the rose, the thorn and the bud.” The rose is something we appreciated from our day, the thorn was the most challenging part and the bud is what we’re looking forward to in the days to come.
Whenever any one of us is in a bad or complaining mood, we often remember to ask, “But what’s good about today? What can you appreciate right now? and that often turns around the mood super fast.
Thanks also for sharing the super cute pic of your pup!
xxoo
I love the gratitude practice you share with your son– and will carry the rose, the thorn and the bud with me. I spend a lot of time with women working hard to overcome life-threatening circumstances ranging from domestic violence to homelessness and/or addiction. Gratitude is a wonderful healer and I appreciate having another ‘tool’ to help people connect with it.
And, yes, Alex seems to make his way in to all of the pictures.
We have a regular gratitude practice at dinner. If I forget my kids remember! We also do the thorn and rose… Great post, thanks!