Power of Gratitude
Gratitude is a such a simple thing, and yet a regular habit or practice of gratitude has the potential to dramatically improve our health and well-being. One simple way to increase our gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal where we jot down several things that we are grateful for every day. In one study, participants were asked to write down five things they were grateful for at the end of each day for a 10 week period. At the end of the study, the participants who journaled their gratitude reported 28% less stress. In addition, those who journaled ate better and exercised more. Gratitude is linked to a host of other benefits as well.
Gratitude Journal vs. Gratitude Board
A while back, I started a gratitude journal and wrote about my experience on this blog. Since then, I have continued to write in a gratitude journal, although I don't write in it everyday. I felt that one of the missing parts of the personal gratitude journal was that it was individual; I wanted to share a gratitude practice with those that I loved. This week for my micro-resolution I wanted to try something slightly different: a gratitude board. The concept of the gratitude board is that we would tape a poster on the wall and list the things that are grateful for throughout the week. We would all contribute to the gratitude board every day and share what we were grateful for.
Here is what happened. We placed the poster paper near our kitchen table so we would see and use the gratitude board when we sat down for dinner. At the dinner table, we would go around and list what we were grateful for, and one of our family members would be the scribe. To help guide our gratitude thinking, we created the following 3 gratitude categories of people, nature, and technology.
The gratitude board experiment went well, although we didn't sit down to eat as a family every day, so we failed to add to the list every day. Despite the fact that we didn't add to the list every day, gratitude was on our minds. We talked about gratitude in the car and on other occasions. The individual gratitude journal was great, although I liked the group gratitude board better. One of the benefits of doing this as a family was that we we had a platform to express gratitude to each other.
Here are some of the things that my family expressed gratitude for this week: mothers, friends, trees, rainbows, flowers, clouds, the sun, ocean, beach, rain, Jupiter, shrimp, toilets, Fortnite dances, music, basketball, headphones, and the gym.
Better 7 Challenge
What can you do this week to experience more gratitude in your life. Try a gratitude journal or start a gratitude board for 7 days and see how it improves your life.
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