What are you grateful for today?
Gratitude isn’t about special or lucky circumstances; gratitude is a choice.
Gratitude is good for your mental health; it nourishes the brain.
And, it is free, simple and takes very little time.
But it does take attention and intention. We would all be well served to create a gratitude habit – train ourselves to find things we can be grateful for. Especially when life is a bit challenging – it’s like balancing the scales of pain and joy.
So, look around, what can you be grateful for? Being alive? Your health (even if it isn’t perfect)? Your wealth (even if it isn’t as much as the neighbours’)? Your work (even if it isn’t your ideal job, yet)?. Your mobility, freedoms, family, friends, relationships? The regard and respect you get from others?
Every time you find the chance to be grateful, you create the biochemistry of positivity. It washes your brain and body with serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin which help you feel good, stay sane and mentally healthy.
Gratitude can also be contagious: if you share the gratitude you have for others, it is likely to come back to you in some positive form.
Find several things to be grateful for. Ponder them. Write them down if you choose, share with others or not, but at least spend a few minutes in true appreciation and gratitude and you will feel the difference it makes.
Try it today. And tomorrow. And the next day…
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