I would like to offer you an exercise, or rather a workout that could be very useful, especially on days like these where everything is so complicated, frustrating and difficult.
You don't need any yoga mat, just a piece of paper and a pen, or a pencil if you're like me.
I'm talking to you about gratitude.
It is clear that being gratified makes us feel good while it is not so clear that those who express this feeling themselves receive a great benefit.
Yet gratitude is an important ingredient for happiness.
Knowing how to recognize, but even before seeing, all the beautiful things we have created, the wonderful little things we have, the people who give meaning to everything, highlights what is good and giving thanks allows us to no longer give it away so for granted.
Gratitude must be cultivated so that it bears fruit.
We can therefore train ourselves to be more grateful by starting to pay more attention to what is beautiful around us.
A study conducted by two psychologists ( Emmons and McCullough ) in 2003 showed that a constant practice of gratitude allows you to feel, and therefore be, happier.
Study subjects had to write down 5 things they were grateful for every week, for 10 weeks. At the end of the study this group provided a much higher percentage rating of their happiness than the comparison group who had been tasked with simply listing five generic events of their week.
One way to train ourselves in this practice is simply make lists . Dedicate a few minutes, perhaps at the end of the day, to put down on paper what is and has been good. You will see how, if you stop to think about it, things will come to mind that you didn't give much weight to at the time but which actually deserve your gratitude.
Gratitude relaxes, chases away negative thoughts, brings with it other positive emotions, in short it is well-being.
Feeling grateful is a question of attitude, we choose to be grateful, it has nothing to do with courtesy and education, which are always welcome. It's seeing the whole picture thanks to every little colored pixel of our life.
Seeing is believing.
In the store you can find a journal that will guide you in this practice, but as mentioned at the beginning all you need is a piece of paper and a pen.
The Gratitude Journal it has spaces to fill with your own reflections and eight different sections that act as a guide and from which we can take inspiration:
- Three things I'm grateful for
- Something I can be proud of
- A person I am grateful for
- The best part of today
- A reason to be excited about the future
- An act of kindness I received
- A valuable lesson I have learned or am learning
- How can I show my gratitude to the people I care about
The sense of gratitude is learned and trained.
You can start now by simply writing down, after stopping to think about it for a moment, the things you can be grateful for today. There are no obvious or banal things, everyone is free to be grateful for what they want.
Then do it again tomorrow.
And the day after tomorrow.
And then enjoy it.
