But what are you actually grateful for? It’s a question that could change your life.
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness
Backed up by rigorous research, the article below (excerpts from a Huffington post article), highlights the influence our state of mind has on our wellbeing. While you’re reading it, I encourage you to think about how this affects you as a person, a colleague, a boss, a trainer, a friend, a parent, a member of your community etc.
If you believe, for example, that to get any work done, you have to put your nose to the grindstone (really? that image evokes blood!), think again. Positive vibes aren’t just for hippies.
While the article specifically focuses on gratitude, it’s not a stretch to think that being fulfilled & happy, leads to better, well, almost everything. Better employees. Better trainers. Better bosses. Better organizations. Better people.
But what are you actually grateful for? It’s a question that could change your life.
Recent studies have concluded that the expression of gratitude can have profound and positive effects on our health, our moods and even the survival of our marriages.
As Drs. Blaire and Rita Justice reported for the University of Texas Health Science Center, “a growing body of research shows that gratitude is truly amazing in its physical and psychosocial benefits.”
In one study on gratitude, conducted by Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., at the University of California at Davis and his colleague Mike McCullough at the University of Miami, randomly assigned participants were given one of three tasks. Ten weeks later, participants in the gratitude group felt better about their lives as a whole and were a full 25 percent happier than the hassled group. They reported fewer health complaints, and exercised an average of 1.5 hours more.
In a later study by Emmons, people were asked to write every day about things for which they were grateful. Not surprisingly, this daily practice led to greater increases in gratitude than did the weekly journaling in the first study. But the results showed another benefit: Participants in the gratitude group also reported offering others more emotional support or help with a personal problem, indicating that the gratitude exercise increased their goodwill towards others, or more tehnically, their “pro-social” motivation.
There’s an old saying that if you’ve forgotten the language of gratitude, you’ll never be on speaking terms with happiness. It turns out this isn’t just a fluffy idea. Several studies have shown depression to be inversely correlated to gratitude. It seems that the more grateful a person is, the less depressed they are.
Apparently, positive vibes aren’t just for hippies. If you want in on the fun, here are some simple things you can do to build positive momentum toward a more happy and fulfilling life:
Sure this world gives us plenty of reasons to despair. But when we get off the fast track to morbidity, and cultivate instead an attitude of gratitude, things don’t just look better — they actually get better. Thankfulness feels good, it’s good for you and it’s a blessing for the people around you, too. It’s such a win-win-win that I’d say we have cause for gratitude.
Ocean Robbins is an author, speaker, facilitator, movement builder and father. To learn more about his work or to get a free copy of his mini-book “The Power of Partnership,” visit www.oceanrobbins.com.
Tags: gratitude, huffington post
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