By Louise Richardson
“With gratitude, optimism is sustainable.” I heard Michael J. Fox say this in a recent interview.
I know that I’ve written about gratitude before, but I think it bears repeating. Without gratitude in our daily lives, we can become miserable, giving in to any negative energy that can surround us. The only way to change the way things appear to us is to change the way that we look at them. And being thankful is the best way to change our outlook on the things that pull us down.
Here are the five main types of benefits of practicing regular gratitude, according to the Happier Human’s analysis of 26 studies on gratitude:
• Emotional benefits that can include feeling happier, improving our self-esteem, and helping us feel more resilient.
• Social benefits that can improve our friendships and romantic relationships and strengthen our family relationships in times of stress.
• Personality benefits that can help us feel more optimistic, increase our spiritualism, reduce materialism, and increase our interests in giving to others.
• Career benefits that can help us be more effective in managing and mentoring employees, reduce impatience, improve our decision-making skills, find meaning and purpose in our work, improve mental health, and reduce stress.
• Physical benefits include reducing depression symptoms, reducing blood pressure, improving sleep, making it easier to exercise, and overall improving physical health.
And here are a few ideas that can help you to add more gratitude in your life:
• Prayer, focus on listing things you’re grateful for as part of your prayer time.
• Think about 5 things that you’re grateful for every day, either as you’re waking up or right before you fall asleep: or better yet, both!
• Journaling is a great practice where you list 3 things that you’re especially grateful for. Do this every day and you will notice less stress in your life.
• Create a gratitude jar and fill it as you write something you’re grateful for on a piece of paper each day, or each time you walk by the jar. It’s a great visual for all the good things in your life.
• Write thank you cards not just when someone does something or gives you a gift, but also just to say you are thankful they are in your life.
• Use your 5 senses to create your gratitude list: find scents, touches, visuals, tastes, and sounds you’re grateful for.
• Make an effort to tell your friends, family, coworkers, and even strangers what you appreciate about them each time you see them.
As for me, I am grateful for the many people who have graced my studio and given me the honor of letting me use my reflexology skills on them; people who are customers and later became friends.
In honor of Veterans’ Day, I am offering a special to our veterans, both active and retired. Book an appointment to come in for a reflexology session during the week of November 6th through 11th and get a one-hour session for only $40! This is my way of expressing gratitude for their service to our country.
You can book a reflexology session (which always makes me grateful) by calling (813) 965-1697 today. May God bless you with good health always.
