Practicing gratitude is like a daily vitamin for your mind, body, and soul. It unlocks the fullness of life, brings peace to your mind, and nourishes your spirit with an abundance of joy and contentment. The benefits of gratitude are endless, and it all starts with a simple ‘thank you’.
Gratitude has long been known as the antidote to an unfulfilled life, and research shows that those who practice gratitude have more happiness, less anxiety, and better relationships. It seems like everywhere you look there’s something new to be grateful for. The ideas of gratefulness keep creeping into our lives in a different way. There are articles about the importance of gratitude every other day, but do we really understand what it means? Gratitude makes us happier and healthier. It is not just another buzzword that will soon vanish from our vocabulary. Gratitude is an attitude that will impact your life positively if you make it part of your daily routine. Here are the 6 best benefits of gratitude that will change your life:
1. Gratitude Makes You Happier
Research in positive psychology finds a strong correlation between gratitude and happiness. People who practice gratitude tend to experience more positive emotions, thoroughly enjoy the good experiences, take better care of their health, deal with adversity, and develop and maintain strong relationships.
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. –William Arthur Ward
According to research, being grateful increases your feelings of happiness. People who practice gratitude are more likely to experience more joy, contentment, optimism, and even enthusiasm. They also have lower rates of depression, anxiety, and stress. When you make it a habit to be grateful, you are training your brain to look for the positive. This means that you are likely to see the good in every situation. Gratitude is not just saying “I’m grateful” once a week. It’s about making an effort to be grateful every day. For example, let’s say that you have to get up at 5 am to go to work. This is a situation where most people would groan about how tired and annoyed they are. However, you could use this situation to be grateful. You could say “I’m grateful that I have a job” or “I’m grateful that I don’t have to do this every day”. You could even take it one step further by expressing gratitude to your employer or co-workers. This will definitely change your mindset and help you feel better.
2. Gratitude Improves Your Relationships
Being grateful will help you strengthen your relationships. Research shows that expressing gratitude to people we care about can improve the relationship for both parties by bringing us closer to the other individual, making it comfortable to express concerns about the relationship. and sustaining the relationship for the long-term
No matter if it’s your partner, your parents, or your friends, gratitude will make your relationships healthier. You will find yourself less likely to criticize others, and more likely to praise them for the things they’ve done for you. The happier you are, the more you will want to spend time with your loved ones. If you are grateful to the people in your life, you will want to show them how much you appreciate them. Expressing gratitude will make you less likely to become critical of others and more likely to be supportive.
3. Gratitude Makes You Less Stressed
If you’re stressed out, you’re sure to be unhappy. In fact, stress has been linked to many diseases, such as heart disease, insomnia, and depression. One of the best ways to combat stress is to practice gratitude. According to numerous research, those with more dispositional gratitude exhibit signs of psychological well-being, including higher feelings of social support and lower levels of stress, despair, and anxiety.
When you’re grateful, you’re less likely to be stressed out about things that don’t really matter. When you’re grateful, you’re less likely to be stressed about work or money. You’re more likely to see these as challenges instead of things that are holding you back from living a happy life. You’re also less likely to be stressed about your relationships. When you express gratitude in your relationships, you’re less likely to get into a fight with your loved ones.
4. Gratitude Makes You More Altruistic
A recent study found that people with more traits of gratitude appeared to have more altruistic brains. Studies have found that gratitude is associated with more giving and helping behavior. People who are more grateful are more likely to volunteer for various causes. They are also more likely to do favors for friends and family members. People who practice gratitude have a higher level of oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone that is associated with feelings of love and compassion. This can lead to higher feelings of altruism. You are likely to help others more often and be less stingy with your money. In fact, the relationship between reciprocal altruism and gratitude explains that people feel more grateful for benefits provided by strangers or more distant acquaintances than they do for similar benefits provided by close relatives
5. Gratitude Helps You Cope With Hardship
Think of the worst times in your life, your sorrows, your losses, your sadness—and then remember that here you are, able to remember them, that you made it through the worst times of your life, you got through the trauma, you got through the trial, you endured the temptation, you survived the bad relationship, you’re making your way out of the dark. Remember the bad things, then look to see where you are now. – Robert Emmons
Have you ever noticed that your first reaction when something bad happens is to wonder, “Why did this happen to me?” When you’re grateful for what you already have, you are less likely to resent what has been taken away from you. You can turn your attention to what you still have instead of focusing on what you don’t have.
Robert Emmons says that it’s easy to feel grateful when life is good, But when disaster strikes, gratitude is worth the effort.
For example, when you lose a loved one, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of resentment and focus on what you no longer have. However, you can use this as an opportunity to be grateful for the time you did have with them. You can appreciate their life and the things they taught you. You can use your time to be grateful instead of focusing on how much you miss them.
6. Gratitude Improves Your Self-Esteem
Studies have found that there’s a connection between gratitude and self-esteem. Those who practice gratitude are more likely to have high self-esteem. When a person feels grateful they often view themselves as benefiting from another person’s generosity, leading them to feel valued. This increases self-esteem, which in turn leads to higher levels of psychological well-being.
People with high self-esteem are less likely to be depressed and anxious. They are also more likely to have healthy relationships. When you regularly practice gratitude, you become less focused on your flaws and more focused on the good things about yourself. You’re less likely to criticize yourself for mistakes and more likely to encourage yourself to do better next time. You’re also less likely to compare yourself to others and more likely to accept who you are.
A Word From BeyondPsychub
These are some of the best benefits of gratitude that will change your life. When you practice gratitude, you are actively improving your life. With gratitude, you are less likely to fall into the trap of unfulfilled life. You are more likely to have fewer problems, more joy, and more happiness. There’s no doubt that gratitude is an essential part of life. However, you can’t just say “thank you” once and expect it to change your life. It’s not something that you can do once a year and call it a day. You have to make an effort to be grateful every day. If you want to change your life for the better, you need to make gratitude a part of your daily routine. It’s not something you can do occasionally. It’s something that you have to make a daily habit so that it becomes a part of you.
References –
https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-happiness-research/#gratitude-and-happiness
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_can_help_you_through_hard_times
