Good morning friends and welcome to my fifty-first blog.
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated by Americans on the fourth Thursday of November. It celebrates the Pilgrim’s meal with the Native Americans and is revered as a day to spend with loved ones and giving thanks. Most families observe the holiday with a large meal, lots of family, and sometimes a religious service.
Thanksgiving was celebrated yesterday, and although I am not an American and do not live in the States, it got me to thinking about giving thanks and being grateful.
Being thankful is about acknowledging your thanks for the things that you have, and being grateful is about appreciating what one has. For the purposes of this blog, I shall put these two practices together.
People who practice gratitude and thankfulness tend to view the world through a positive lens. This outlook encourages acknowledgment of the positives in their own life and the world as a whole. Even during difficult times, these folks count their blessings. Scientific research has shown a significant and strong link between gratitude and improved measures of health and wellbeing.
Giving thanks and being grateful can increase your quality of life in the following ways:
- Your levels of stress and anxiety may decrease.
Studies have shown that individuals who give thanks have less stress and anxiety, which may lower the levels of cortisol in your body. This stress hormone, as we have discussed before, if produced too much, can deplete the immune system, and raise blood sugar levels which then leads to even greater problems. Being thankful will enhance your optimism, positive energy, and overall sense of well-being.
- . Your happiness will be enhanced
Giving thanks and feeling gratitude towards others and the world may reduce a variety of negative emotions such as envy, resentment, or frustration.
- Your physical health may be boosted.
Being thankful improved people’s mental health, healthy activity participation, and willingness to seek medical help for any health concerns. Writing a daily list of things to be grateful for resulted in the participants reporting fewer physical issues. Data showed that gratitude was strongly related to less distress, and more positive emotions. This could also help to strengthen the immune system.
- This may help tweak your sleep.
Studies have shown a big correlation between wellbeing and sleep quality. Participants who wrote in a gratitude journal for two weeks slept really well after this and for a longer period of time.
- Your resilience may improve.
Research has shown that being thankful is related to having more self-efficacy, which is the optimistic self-belief that one can perform difficult tasks and attain desired outcomes. This is a component of resilience. More gratitude is related to increased resilience.
- Your relationships could become stronger.
Many studies have examined the role of gratitude in relationships. Results have shown that it is important for forming and maintaining the most significant relationships in our lives
- You may have greater life satisfaction.
A study showed that after 4 weeks of gratitude contemplation, participants reported greater life satisfaction. This could then enhance long-term well-being.
- You may be less aggressive and impatient.
Feeling grateful may protect one against being hurt and reacting aggressively. It may increase empathy, thus decreasing impatience.
- You may have better self-care practices.
Giving thanks may help individuals to take greater care of themselves as they are more positive and contented with their lives.
- This may decrease your inflammation.
Due to improved health and well-being, body inflammation may be decreased.
- You may live longer.
A daily gratitude practice may slow down the effects of neurodegeneration that occurs as we age. Happy people live an average of ten years longer than pessimistic folk.
- You may feel greater appreciation.
People who give thanks will appreciate life, and all that it has to offer, so much more.
On a personal level, I have so many reasons to give thanks, in no particular order.
- The consistency and loyalty of my dogs. I have been rather disagreeable intermittently, and sadly with some consistency, owing to a variety of stuff, and even when I am not loving and attentive, they remain so, and for this, I am so grateful.
- Being able to get into a car and head to various retirement and private homes, with no worries of travelling in a taxi, bus or train sitting next to folk who may be at risk, and not having to wear a mask while I enjoy the privacy of my or my family’s car, all the while revelling in the banter and music of my favourite radio station.
- Wet green grass after our magnificent rains. Sounds silly but for me, this just evokes gratitude and thankfulness for so many reasons.
- Conversations with adult children, and it dawning on us that we have brought up some pretty amazing humans.
- What’s App messages and voice notes enables me to stay connected with my nearest and dearest when time is of the essence.
- Having the most amazing support at home. They take care of my home and all that is associated with the running of it while I work a full day. The fact that they have slotted into their new roles with such apparent ease makes it better still. I think Helen revels in doing the month-end shop and I am thrilled!
- My new and flourishing businesses that take up so much time but are giving me the most amazing validation, sense of self, and true pleasure.
- My Happy Place at the beach which provides us with so much on so many levels.
- Online shopping which has helped me to engage in one of my pleasurable pastimes, that of a bit of retail now and then. It is also awesome for food and beverage orders.
- My body and the thousands of biochemical processes that take place all the time to help keep me functioning optimally physically.
- My girl and boyfriends who just continue to astound me with their tenacity, resilience, and grit during so many, and ongoing difficult times.
- My home and the space and refuge and safety and security it provides us with.
- My husband who has not had the easiest year, and still remains steadfast and strong, and the rock of our family. I absolutely adore him, too.
- My boys who have astonished me with their adaptation, strength, and resilience throughout this year. They have all grown infinitesimally and am beyond proud of them all and love them more than words can say.
- My Mum whose mind, beauty, and youthfulness continue to astound me.
- My swimming pool. I do not have the luxury, mostly, of my lunch hour of lying out like the proverbial lizard that I was, but I just love a swim often after a workout or a quick bask, even for a few minutes. That is the easiest and simplest food for my soul.
- Pops for his strength and amazing adaptability and positive outlook.
- Conversations and banter with adult children, and it dawning on us that we have managed to bring up some pretty amazing humans.
- Self -awareness, and acceptance due to time spent on learning about me over the past year. With thanks to an amazing life coach and, every now and again, chats with a wonderful professional person. This has helped me understand that I am the one who can create my happiness and I cannot be dependent on others for this.
- Succumbing to Covid because it made me appreciate my great health and wellness and how important this is to me. It also showed me who my true tribe is, and we were overwhelmed by the outpouring of generosity and kindness from so many.
- The unbearable loss of Muz because of the love, compassion, kindness, and ongoing and consistent support of the most beautiful people.
- My blog which enables me to work through so many things.
With thanks again to power of positivity for their wonderful thoughts.
Wishing you all a weekend of giving thanks and being grateful!