To Show Gratitude – Appreciate What You Have

You wake up every day and your life flows into a more or less organized routine. In many cases, everyday life is permeated by inertia and filled with a myriad of different problems. In addition to that, you also have many short-term goals that must and must be achieved before the day is over. In other words, we often do not have the ability to adequately value what we have, or to show gratitude in a genuine way.

We are left with very little time to remember and think about the dreams we have already fulfilled. Instead, current as well as future commitments push us further. We feel new frustrations over goals we want to achieve. We long for a life that is on the horizon, or unattainable things we want. The desire to improve our lives and the lives of the people around us is always present in us. On the other hand, we are hardly aware of all the goals we have already achieved.

In the few hours of the day we have to ourselves, we probably want to exercise, spend time with our friends or just calm down and relax. Thus, we can easily forget to appreciate what we have, even if it is a healthy exercise that deserves some of our time.

Several studies have shown that showing gratitude can result in many physical and psychological health benefits. The effect is so great that we should spend a few minutes every day appreciating what we have.

How can you appreciate what you have?

In our culture, people often associate showing gratitude with duty. Often this is a troublesome duty towards someone who has done something for you. However, gratitude is so much more than that. Gratitude is a mental state.

You can be grateful to those who have helped you. You can also be grateful for those who have made your life difficult. After all, they put challenges in your path that you may have learned something from. It is good to show gratitude for your strengths as well as your shortcomings and weaknesses. Be grateful for what you have and also for what you have lost. The things you have lost gave you the opportunity to grow.

Let’s take a look at the benefits you can reap from showing gratitude in your life. We will also look at how you can develop gratitude.

To show gratitude and science

Various studies from the University of California and the Mindfulness Awareness Research Center have drawn some surprising conclusions when it comes to gratitude. They discovered that the development of this psychological state and the feeling of gratitude often changes the molecular structure of the brain.

When you feel grateful, you activate the areas of the brain that are responsible for moral thinking. This also triggers the brain’s reward system and emotional center. This sensation activates the prefrontal cortex. This part of our brain is involved in complicated cognitive behaviors. It also participates in decision-making processes, social behaviors and processes that express personality. Another part of the brain that is activated is the Cortex cingularis anterior. This area is responsible for our emotions and empathy.

How does this affect you?

The research groups exposed people to several different tests. These tests involved showing gratitude over several weeks. They discovered very positive results. This pattern of activation in the brain, in the areas we mention above, was reflected by an increase in the participants’ well-being on various measurements.

Participants reported fewer health problems in general. They also described that they had lower levels of anxiety and depression. They also confirmed that they had significantly higher levels of productivity since they felt more obvious due to better sleep quality. It seems that showing gratitude is a practice that can help you feel healthier and happier.

Ways to cultivate gratitude

Wake up every day grateful for what you have. Recognition is the basis of gratitude. Many times we can take things for granted, we are simply not aware of things we have or are being done for us.

It is true that wanting more can motivate you, but this should not affect your gratitude for your current life. This is the basis of self-confidence. This is where many of the emotions you experience spring from. Therefore, gratitude is one of the most positive emotions we should develop.

A good exercise to stimulate gratitude is to write a letter or message to someone who has helped you with something. It does not matter if it happened recently or a long time ago. In addition, you can spend a few minutes each day thinking about what you are grateful for. Another idea is to write a diary where you can write down three things you are grateful for each day. This will definitely help you appreciate what you have.

We hope you can take advantage of these very simple ways to help you remember to appreciate what you have when you feel frustrated with everything you do not have.