Give Out Some Gratitude
Gratitude is one of the most postive emotions for us to cultivate, studies show time and time again that it has an incredibly positive effect on our wellbeing, our mental and even our physical health!
Research shows that gratitude can:
Help you make friends. One study found that thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek a more lasting relationship with you.
Improve your physical health. People who exhibit gratitude report fewer aches and pains, a general feeling of health, more regular exercise, and more frequent checkups with their doctor than those who don’t.
Improve your psychological health. Grateful people enjoy higher wellbeing and happiness and suffer from reduced symptoms of depression.
Enhance empathy and reduces aggression. Those who show their gratitude are less likely to seek revenge against others and more likely to behave in a prosocial manner, with sensitivity and empathy.
Improve your sleep. Practicing gratitude regularly can help you sleep longer and better.
Enhance your self-esteem. People who are grateful have increased self-esteem, partly due to their ability to appreciate other peoples’ accomplishments.
Increase in mental strength. Grateful people have an advantage in overcoming trauma and enhanced resilience, helping them to bounce back from highly stressful situations.
Gratitude interventions are categorised into two parts:
Self-reflective practices, for example, writing a gratitude journal that we keep to ourselves and use as a tool for self-expression.
Interactive methods where we actively express our gratitude to others by saying ‘thank you,’ giving small tokens of appreciation, or paying gratitude visits.
““If you want to find happiness, find gratitude””
Give Someone Your Gratitude Practice
No matter what type of practice we follow, gratitude interventions have proven benefits in increasing happiness and life satisfaction. But this might be the most powerful gratitude exercise because it has the added benefit of also bringing joy and positivity to other people.
People love to feel acknowledged and appreciated, especially in a heartfelt way. This exercise is very simple, all you need to do is write a message, an email or even better, a hand-written letter to a person you are particularly grateful to have in your life.
Be detailed. Express all the wonderful qualities about this person, and how they personally have affected your life for the better.
If you choose to write a letter and you have the time personally deliver this letter to the person yourself. Do it unexpectedly. Your level of gratitude should skyrocket, as you observe the joy the receiver gets from your generous act. It will probably be one of the greatest gifts you will ever receive.
The positive effects of this gratitude exercise were researched and carried out by Kent State professor Steve Toepfer, associate professor in Human Development and Family Studies.
In his 2007 study, his undergraduate students experienced enhanced levels of life satisfaction and happiness, as well as decreased symptoms of depression. Toepfer’s goal of this study was to determine the psychological benefits, if any, for the authors of these gratitude letters.
The results of this study are quite straightforward. If you wish to increase your gratitude and happiness levels then intentionally script letters to inspiring people in your life.
If you are feeling down and maybe even depressed, you should most certainly give this practice a try. For an even further joy boost hand deliver your letter to the receivers so you can witness the receiver’s reactions for yourself.
This activity can be either a message, an email or a letter which you can send off in the mail or deliver personally.
Think about a person who has recently done something good for you, to whom you have not yet expressed your gratitude. This person may be a friend, family member, coworker, teacher, or mentor.
Try to pick someone who you can visit within the next week if you are practicing the visit component.
Next, write them an email or letter. Use these guidelines to write an effective and grateful letter:
Write as though you are addressing the person directly.
Don’t worry about getting your grammar or spelling perfect (unless you are sending the email/letter to them).
Describe what this person has done that makes you grateful, and how they have impacted your life. Be as concrete as possible here.
Describe what you are doing in life now, and how frequently you remember their act of kindness or generosity.
Try to keep your letter to about 300 words or so.
If you are writing a message, an email or a letter to be mailed, go through the letter to make sure it is clear and you get the intended message across. Hit the “send” button or drop it in a mailbox and let your gratitude fill up their cup and yours.
