Better Mood From Gratitude: 1 Week Reminder
A week ago I suggested a simple gratitude exercise as an evidenced-based way of improving your mood over the long term. Research suggests this exercise is beneficial if carried out on a regular basis. So this is your reminder to set aside a couple of minutes today to be thankful for what you've got.
Also, when you do the exercise, try to vary it somewhat from last week. We easily get used to particular ways of thinking so variety is key to the exercise's continued effectiveness.
One of the easiest ways to introduce variety is to change the focus of your gratitude. For example if last week you were thankful mainly about personal relationships - say, your family and friends - this week move on to a different area like food, sport, health, or even aspects of your own or other's personality. You could even use the character strengths you identified and be thankful for your 'signature strengths'.
Another way of varying the activity is not just to change what you're thankful about, but to use a different mode of expressing it. Say last week you thought grateful thoughts, this week you could put pen to paper and write them down, perhaps even start a gratitude journal. Next week you could draw a gratitude picture, the week after you could thank the people you are grateful to with a card or face-to-face.
Thanks for your comments
It was great to see such a positive response to this exercise from commenters. Some had personally found this exercise to be useful in the past, others thought this was a refreshing change from the usual focus of psychology on deficits, and many expressed their gratitude for the post. Well thank you for taking the time to comment!
Feel free to post up your experiences with this exercise or even write below what you're grateful for.
[Image credit: Darwin Bell]
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This is one of those things that many people will say "I've done that" or "I do that." It seems so simple. But, do we really already do it? Whenever we say that to ourselves we miss out on the learning that would otherwise follow. I'm going to do this exercise again starting now...but for the longest time I was not. Thank you for the lesson.
When you couple this with the four fold breath http://www.successtechnologies.com/blog/?p=38
you have a very formidable set of tools to get things done, control your anxiety and fear, and to be here and now and to get things done while feeling alive and happier. Thank you.
Dave Frees
http://www.successtechnologies.com/blog
http://www.twitter.com/davefrees
Thanks for the reminder that simple things DO make a difference. Keeping a gratitude journal is something I've benefited from the past, but have forgotten how powerful it can be. Great way to start the new year!
Rashin D'Angelo
http://www.twitter.com/rashin
Unfortunately when 'life sucks' gratitude is not what comes to mind, yet it's such an important part of getting through that 'life sucks' period. It is often after the event that we can see positives of what occured.
This last year has been a tough one for me, where looking at the future was too difficult and looking at the past too painful. My daily existence was difficult but I found the more I lived in the 'moment' the more enriched that moment became. The more I had to be grateful for.
http://hotmiddlescence.com
I'm grateful for blogs like this one. I'm one of those who "do that" regularly, but not with the variation suggested here. Will try some of your suggestions.
I recently started posting a gratitude blog on my blogs. I try to list five things I'm grateful for every chance I get. I have Fibromyalgia and I'm going through Menopause, so focusing on the good things in life is a very valuable exercise for me!
XOxo~Drea
http://drea2up.wordpress.com