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Benefits
of Gratitude
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| BENEFITS
OF GRATITUDE Practice Gratitude |
When I did my research for this article, I found the usual health benefits such as stress reducer and a more positive brain chemistry.
I also found a multitude of ways to practice gratitude, such as using a gratitude rock, gratitude poster, gratitude meditation or keeping gratitude quotes around you to inspire an attitude of gratitude.
While all these ways to practice gratitude are great, what is the end result of doing this gratitude regimen?
After all, if we don't know the “why,” we're less motivated to stay the course when showing gratitude on a continual basis.
Since I've already written an article on how to develop gratitude using some of these methods, take a minute or two and visit my “How to Develop Gratitude” article so you have a greater sense of how to develop gratitude. Then hit the back button and I'll be here waiting for you...
| BENEFITS
OF GRATITUDE Showing Gratitude |
Okay, so after reading my “How to Develop Gratitude” article, you should be inspired to start your regimen of developing an attitude of gratitude. But, if you want to keep your enthusiasm going long enough for it to make a difference, you can benefit from learning the long-term results of showing gratitude.
| BENEFITS
OF GRATITUDE As We Express Our Gratitude |
As we express our gratitude on a continual basis, we change our lives in beneficial ways.
In fact, according to a study done by the Emmons Lab at University of California at Davis, there are four things that people report happen when they measure their grateful disposition.
They
are: - Well-Being
- Prosociality
- Spirituality
- Materialism
| BENEFITS
OF GRATITUDE Well-Being |
In addition to the common benefits such as lower levels of stress and depression, as we express our gratitude, we have also changed our perspective enough to ignore the negative parts of life.
In doing this, we are able to enhance our feelings of well-being and experience “pleasant” feelings within our bodies.
Could this be because gratitude resonates at such a high level of love? Perhaps. But regardless of the “why it works,” we know that showing gratitude helps us “feel good” overall.
| BENEFITS
OF GRATITUDE Prosociality |
When you've learn how to develop gratitude enough to maintain it consistently, you are more likely to be empathetic to others, more generous and more helpful.
In fact, I've heard about another study which showed that when a person is thinking thoughts of gratitude, they can actually change the heart coherence of people within 18 feet of them.
So, if you want to change the world, having an attitude of gratitude changes you enough to help others around you.
I've discussed this "heart coherence" factor more in my "As We Express Our Gratitude, We Change the World" article. Take a minute or two and go to that article now by clicking here. Then, hit the back button and I'll be here waiting...
| BENEFITS
OF GRATITUDE Spirituality |
Having some kind of faith, whether it is through a religious organization or not, enhances your ability to be grateful.
Why is this? Because, from my experience, the more faith I have that everything that is happening around me is “part of a greater plan” (whether I devised that plan or a Deity did), I am more grateful for everything that occurs in my life.
Developing gratitude and developing trust are inter-related. If you can develop a greater trust that things are going “as planned,” you can practice gratitude
| BENEFITS
OF GRATITUDE Materialism |
Emmons' study also showed that as we express our gratitude, we become less materialistic and less judgmental and envious of what other people around us possess.
To many of us, I suspect this is the most surprising benefit of gratitude, but if you think about it, when you're happy and grateful for what you have, there's no room for envy or jealousy or even the “desire for more.”
| BENEFITS
OF GRATITUDE Summary |
When you're looking for the benefits of gratitude, in addition to the more common benefits which show up on a physical level such as lowered stress, depression and better body/brain chemistry, you'll find that when you practice gratitude, you initiate this great power to “do good” around you as well.
This means that when looking at your part in changing the world, changing your mindset to an attitude of gratitude makes sense because you are the being the change that you want in the world, as expressed in the classic quote:
"You
must be the change you want to see in the world."
~Mahatma Gandhi
~Mahatma Gandhi
So, the bottom line is that as we express our gratitude, we help ourselves on physical and mental levels, as well as help others around us through greater generosity and compassion.
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A
great way to develop
gratitude is through hypnosis. Check out this article that tells you the results of a study conducted in tandem by the Universities of California and Miami about the benefits of maintaining a grateful disposition. It also has a hypnosis download that helps you "take the easy route" to developing an attitude of gratitude. Click here to check out this great article about the Study results and the hypnosis download. |
How to Develop Gratitude: Tools to Work Up the Emotional Scale
Learning how to develop gratitude when you're fixed in a mode of depression is easier to do when you understand that if you can maintain an attitude of gratitude long enough, you'll gently...
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