Do you often find yourself caught up in negative thoughts and emotions? Does it seem that your life is a series of unfortunate events? Here is how adopting gratitude practices can make your life do a 180! How Gratitude Can Instantly Change Your Life.
How Gratitude Can Instantly Change Your Life
Most of us grow up dreaming of our own version of the perfect lifestyle. Some lust after a massive mansion with an army of servants to attend to their every whim. Others want a dream job where they get to travel to exotic places every month. And some dream of inheriting a ton of money from a distant relative and living a luxurious life that Elon Musk would be jealous of. But as we become adults, we are hit in the face by reality.
When we are working two jobs only to afford rent and pay off our student debt, we recognize that life is not the bed of roses we dreamed it to be. Things are challenging and stressful, and good times are rare. In these circumstances, being grateful for what you have is not an easy task.
Being Thankful Can Completely Transform How You Look At Life
However, if we did start to be thankful for everything, we could really change our entire lives! Not only in our own minds, but in actuality as well. The ability to be grateful can transform our relationships, our work life, and even our health. Let us look at the many different ways it achieves all of this.
You attract better things to yourself
How many times have you heard that you attract what you think? It may sound like a cliche, but this is much more than just something people say. Modern psychology says that having a more positive approach to life will introduce better opportunities to you.
Showing gratitude is a tremendously positive emotion – you attract to yourself all the good things that life has to offer.
You develop more meaningful relationships
If you feel that you have hollow relationships with your loved ones, I recommend looking at them from an unbiased perspective.
How often were you appreciative of the little things that they did for you? Did you thank your partner when they made you breakfast this morning? Were you grateful to the friend who had lunch with you last week? If you answered no, then you might want to change your attitude.
When you start to show your friends and family the appreciation that they deserve, you strengthen the bond between the two of you. It makes your relationships more meaningful and sincere.
Gratitude is great for the body
Believe it or not, being thankful for what you have got makes you much healthier. Studies show that gratitude has several positive impacts on our physical body. It strengthens your immune system, stabilizes your blood pressure to an optimum level, and is excellent for proper cardiac functioning. All of this is because many endorphins and hormones that positive thought, such as gratitude, can stimulate.
Being thankful also improves your mental health
The endorphins and hormones that are readily released as a response to gratitude do not limit themselves to being great for your body, but they also improve your mental health. Two particularly essential substances in this regard are dopamine and serotonin.
These feel-good neurotransmitters improve your mood and help battle anxiety and depression. These act on the brain’s bliss and reward centres and make us feel relaxed, at ease, and happy.
You get better at your job
Longing for that promotion at work but cannot seem to up your game? Try adopting gratitude practice in your life. Being grateful for the little things makes your energy levels soar, making you a much more productive individual.
Your newfound efficiency combined with your improved relationships with your colleagues and supers makes for a much greater chance at you getting that promotion!
You are more likely to manage pain in a healthy way
People who are more grateful than others tend to manage pain and grief in a much healthier way. Whether the hurt is physical or emotional, gratitude practices can help you deal with the situation in a more appropriate way.
Of course, it is extra challenging to be grateful for something in the face of adversity, but going that extra mile can have huge payoffs. When we are surrounded by negativity and darkness, we most need the spark of positivity from within us. The light that gratitude produces can guide us through a traumatic experience.
Besides providing a ray of hope during stressful events, gratitude also serves to lessen the hurt that we feel physically. Studies show that patients who adopt gratitude practices are less likely to feel pain and more likely to continue their treatments until the very end. Among other factors, this is largely due to the production of dopamine that being grateful can stimulate.
You get a good night’s sleep without the pill
If you struggle sleeping through the night, being grateful can be incredibly beneficial for you. Incorporating gratitude practices in your daily routine can rid you of the need to take a sleeping pill every night.
This is possible because gratitude stimulates and regulates the hypothalamus’ function – a part of our brain. The hypothalamus, in turn, controls many body activities and circadian rhythms, including sleep. Hence, being thankful can ultimately make us sleep better and for longer during the night. More Motivation Blogs
The Final Word
According to various studies, some people are just naturally more grateful than others. It could be possible that being thankful is much more challenging for you than your friend. However, that does not mean that you do not get to reap the numerous benefits of being positive.
Being grateful is a practice that can be actively cultivated if it is not naturally present. A few simple additions and alterations in how you live your life can make you one of the appreciative individuals on the planet!
