The power of
GRATITUDE One of the most overlooked practices we can easily incorporate into our day to experience big positive shifts in our mood and outlook, is the practice of gratitude. In recent years, psychologists have studied gratitude, conducting experiments in an attempt to understand what might have once been dismissed as “woo-woo self-help” - and found it was actually having beneficial effects mentally, emotionally and physically for practitioners. Before we get into the research and its implications, let’s just take a broader world view. There’s a lot wrong with the world, and if we allow it, there’s an almost incessant broadcast of negativity and fear via mainstream media and social media. Multiple studies show that when we allow negative emotions, and in particular fear, to be our dominant thought patterns, we tend to view life as a struggle, expect bad things to happen, and shockingly, are more easily coerced. Not only that, studies have shown that people who expect good outcomes more often experience them. Conversely, those that expect negative outcomes also most frequently experience them. So we’re faced with a choice about whether we want to expect the best, or the worst, and that choice can actually inform and shape our lives.
With this in mind - the question is, what is your current view? Are you positive? Are you grateful? Do you expect good things to happen?
If the answer is yes, wonderful! If it’s no, then realise that you have an option to change, and that by changing your thinking, you can help change your life… Several studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between depression and gratitude. The more grateful you are, the less likely you are to be depressed. A study by the University of California and University of Miami found that participants who were asked to keep a short gratitude journal for 10 weeks not only reported an average of 25% greater happiness than the control group, but exercised more and had fewer health complaints.
Claire and James Davis are the husband and wife team behind multi-award winning coaching and fitness company 38 Degrees North. The couple have a successful midlife health podcast The Midlife Mentors and run The Midlife Method 8 week transformational programme. themidlifementors.com team@themidlifementors.com
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