When someone is thankful he or she shows or feels gratitude. You become thankful when you are delighted and appreciative of what you have. Given the current busy lifestyles, is easy to get carried and forget to be thankful to what others do to you. However, a life well lived is one that is full of thankfulness and gratitude. There are steps you can take to ensure you are more grateful in your everyday life.
Avoid being picky and instead appreciate everything regardless of magnitude. Do not save gratitude to only huge things in life. Even in the face of difficulties, you should make an effort to find gratitude. Take some time to ponder about the negative aspects of your life with an aim of
nailing down that which you have to be thankful of. Thankfulness besides enabling you to show gratitude to others is also immensely beneficial to your health.
Importance of being thankful
- Increases confidence; being thankful increases your self-esteem thus making you less worried and more confident.
- Increases positivity; people who are grateful are more positive in life compared to people who don’t appreciate anything.
- Reduces aggression; grateful people tend to behave in a prosaically manner as others portray less kind behaviors.
- Enhance empathy; individuals who are thankful show increased sensitivity and empathy to others and rarely revenge.
- Improves sleep; keeping a journal beside your bed on which you record things you are thankful for improves your sleep.
- Makes you happy; gratitude helps you ponder more about what others feel about you, which in turn makes you happy.
- Increase mental strength; gratitude plays a major role in helping people overcoming trauma and its harmful effects.
- Make others feel good; by letting people know you appreciate everything they do, makes them become your best friend.
- Improves health; keeping a gratitude journal has been found to reduce incidences of discomforts and aches.
- Fosters resilience; recognizing everything you should be grateful for during difficult times improves resilience.
- Reduce pain levels; ill patients who keep gratitude journals show reduced symptoms and have a higher tendency of exercising.
- Reduce stress; even a mere 15 minutes of daily gratitude dramatically reduces levels of stress hormones.
- Creates new relationships; showing appreciation helps you win more friends. Thanking a new pal increases their likelihood of an ongoing relationship.
- Brain health; your hypothalamus (that regulates your brain) is activated when feeling gratitude or show acts of kindness.
- Improves relationships; being thankful to your partner increases connectedness and general satisfaction.
- Foster healthy habits; grateful people exercise more and attend regular medical checkups, thus contributing to longevity.
- Improves psychological health; thankfulness reduces a host of toxic emotions than include resentment and envy.
- May prevent overeating; gratitude increases willpower and boots impulse control helping you make better decisions.
- Increases energy and vitality; the overall effect of thankfulness in your body (from reduced stress and improved sleep) is enhanced vitality.
Conclusion
Every research conducted to establish the benefit of gratitude in human life has provided clear evidence that indeed it has many benefits. Being thankful besides making you more relaxed, healthier and happier lengthens your lifespan. Gratitude also increases your energy levels thus
providing everything necessary to excel in everything you do. So, it is important that you take the necessary steps to be appreciative of everything people do to you.
By: Joni Kim
EdgeArticles 