“Adding Life to Years” Dr. Larry Weiss Center for Healthy Aging
Gratitude: One Avenue to a Healthy Life
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hanksgiving is in November and it is the time of year to give thanks. Unfortunately, our world is experiencing major traumas with COVID-19, hurricanes, floods, fires, and senseless shootings. How can we be thankful with all this death and destruction? We hear a lot about how to cope. But most of us want to do more than Larry Weiss cope, we want to be happy, find meaning, and connect with others. Here some practices that might help. Gratitude starts with noticing the goodness in life. Cynicism and narcissism are similarly thieves of gratitude. In fact, the cultivation of gratitude may be at least a partial remedy for narcissism. People who are grateful are less stressed, less depressed, and more satisfied with their relationships. Gratitude has been said to have one of the strongest links with mental health of any character trait. Numerous studies suggest that grateful people are more likely to have higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress and depression. In the earliest stages of the pandemic, people had urgent practical questions: Would grocery stores be open? Will there
be a shortage of toilet paper or food? As time continued into April, dealing with coronavirus anxiety was a major topic of conversation, as people faced the fear of the disease as well as economic hardships from the first waves of job losses. Half a year later, emotions like depression, grief, and hopelessness have also crept in, particularly as more and more people have lost loved ones to the virus. And, COVID is taking place in the context of everything else going on in the country and the world. We’ve seen the brutal killings of George Floyd and other unarmed black men and women, once again exposing the ongoing systemic racism in our society. We’ve witnessed widespread fires in the Western United States. And, in the midst of it all, we face an unprecedented presidential election. What we know empirically is, if you are more grateful as a person, you do better. Your physical health is better, your mental health is better, you’re more resilient to stress. Having gratitude is easier said than done. Given the turmoil in our world, it’s natural to focus on the many negatives around us. It’s important to notice the pain in our world and in our own lives so we can take steps to fix it. The more compassionate and empathic a person is, the less lonely they feel as they grow older. Life satisfaction, empathy, compassion, feeling less lonely, more connected to others, and gratitude are all positive emotions that may all be linked to one area of the brain, the prefrontal cortex. Therefore, one emotion effects the others. Given all the tragedy and uncertainty of our times, the CDC has published guidelines on how to cope, running the gamut from taking media breaks and getting plenty of sleep, to exercising and eating right. Coping is important, of course, but most of us want to do more than cope—we want to find some sense of happiness, meaning, or social connection in our lives. People who are grateful feel less pain, less stress, suffer insomnia less, have stronger immune systems, experience healthier relationships, and do better academically and professionally. Overall, gratitude can boost your mental and physical health. (Gratitude page 9)
Brokers / from page 7 When choosing a Medicare Broker to work with, make sure that broker is available to help provide support even after you have enrolled in the Medicare plan that’s best for you. The best Medicare Brokers are there to continually help you navigate the complex health insurance system.
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About the author: CJ Bawden has spent the last decade working in the insurance industry and is a Medicare expert. As the Director of Government Programs for Hometown Health, CJ Bawden is responsible for the company’s 4 Star Medicare Advantage Plan, Senior Care Plus. You can contact CJ at 775082-3100. November 2020 // www.SeniorSpectrumNewspapers.com
