Gratitude: Level 1
Introduction
This could be one of the most important modules you listen to in terms of changing your life-satisfaction and well-being for the better.
The essence of the module is that you can move your emotions and moods in a positive direction by changing –
– how you feel about your past
– think about your future
– experience the present.
The overall effect is going to be enhanced well-being and a much-improved outlook on life – whatever your starting point
I’ve mentioned this before –
if you casually catch a part of a conversation in a coffee shop or perhaps overhear someone close to you on the phone, I’ll guarantee that most of the time the conversation or talk will have a negative focus.
The talk will be of perceived stress, anger or even resentment.
I’m reminded of this every day – without fail – as I write more content for MYND in my local coffee shop.
It seems that our evolutionary default mode is to focus more on the stronger negative thoughts and emotions rather than the more fragile positive ones. This may have helped our ancestors survive potential dangers with a flight or fight instinct, but it’s left us with a potential problem in our now reasonably civilized culture.
It’s worth reminding yourself also that when we do have frequent and intense negative thoughts about the past, these are fuels that block the emotions of contentment and satisfaction.
As we’ve seen elsewhere in MYND, we can get stressed about people and things and we know it’s not what actually happens but our perception of what happens – the meaning we actually give to events – the story we tell ourselves.
I often remind myself of the Greek-speaking, stoic philosopher. Epictetus, who famously said
“People are not disturbed by things,
but by the view, they take of them”
This is really worth considering when events happen that in the past may have caused you to get angry or brought on other negative emotions
You might focus on something someone said that you say made you feel mad, bad or sad.
The trouble is, this kind of thinking becomes so habitual, and as a consequence you leave little or certainly less time for the nice things in life.
So our natural tendency is to focus on the negative and bad news
Do you know someone who is always moaning about how bad life is?
Whenever you talk to them they have a story of woe.
Everything goes wrong n their life and they tell you about it…a lot.
They never, or very rarely have pleasant things to say.
Again, I’m minded of another saying from Epictetus :
“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best”
So choose your company wisely and work on keeping and building good relationships
The crazy thing is that when we change our focus and start to scan and look for the positives in life, we profit and benefit from three distinct emotions and feelings:
happiness, optimism, and gratitude.
In this module, I focus on gratitude.
One very, very powerful and underestimated emotion.
I’ll explore what gratitude is, what the significant benefits are of having more gratitude in your life, and I’ll share three practical techniques and skills to help you develop a gratitude focus in life
Gratitude
In it’s simplest form, gratitude can be described as the quality of being thankful.
It’s a readiness to show appreciation for – and to return – kindness.
So it’s about being thankful, kind and appreciative.
Three very nice qualities in anyone.
Think of someone in your life who has these qualities.
How do they make you feel when you’re around them?
What do they do specifically that might make you feel good?
What do they expect in return?
Interestingly, research findings constantly show that few things in life are as integral to our well-being as gratitude
and the more opportunities for positivity that we see, the more grateful we become.
Gratitude can be the diamond in your toolbox of mind improvement techniques.
If there is one way to help you increase your life satisfaction, general well-being and help you become more positive focused – it’s to develop your skills at being more grateful.
The benefits of being more grateful are quite incredible really – and it’s well worth looking at what research findings tell us.
The evidence constantly shows that grateful people are more energetic, emotionally intelligent, forgiving, and less likely to be depressed, anxious or lonely.
I’ll repeat that –
The evidence constantly shows that grateful people are more energetic, emotionally intelligent, forgiving, and less likely to be depressed, anxious or lonely.
Gratitude has also proven to be a significant cause of positive outcomes in people.
Grateful people feel more socially connected – and we’ve seen how important that is in raising levels of happiness.
They enjoy better quality sleep and even experience fewer headaches than their less grateful counterparts.
So the evidence on the benefits of using gratitude techniques and for being more ‘gratitude-focused’ in life is overwhelming – and not only in general life situations.
Sports performers who focus on gratitude techniques are much less likely to feel stressed in pressure situations.
That’s some pretty strong benefits and it might be easy to feel that something which, on the face of it seems so simple and perhaps easy to do, can offer such generous gains.
I’ll challenge you to give one of the following exercises a try for two weeks and then let me know how you feel
You can contact me through any of the MYND social media outlets.
So to summarise this module
Gratitude is about being thankful. Kind and appreciative about things in your life.
It’s about savouring moments and time rather than taking things for granted and perhaps simply letting things pass you by…almost unnoticed.
The benefits of being more grateful will far outweigh your time investment in becoming more grateful, and they include
Being more energetic, socially connected, emotionally intelligent and more forgiving.
A tendency to enjoy a better quality sleep and suffer from fewer headaches
Feelings of depression, anxiety, and loneliness are likely to be reduced
In the next module we’ll explore three simple and practical gratitude exercises you can try.
Your mind activity today
Before going on to the next module, I want you to think about the things in life you most appreciate.
What are they?
Why do you appreciate them?
How do these things make you feel when you experience them and how long does that feeling last?
See you in the next module