The Restorative Power of Gratitude
When the concept of gratitude was first mentioned to me, I
totally (but politely) dismissed it. I had no idea what I was missing
out on.
Recap: I was going through an especially rough time in my life. I had switched careers much to everyone's chagrin, and I wasn't doing well. I was cash-strapped and my business was going downhill. On top of everything, I had to deal with debilitating migraines on the regular.
I needed a way out, yet I had none! I felt stuck and I was extremely anxious of the fact that I may regress to being a dependent in adulthood. That regression would have dealt a blow to my self-esteem, crippling my self-confidence and cultivating thoughts of shame.
Anyway, I eventually started journalling on the regular, and part of my writing included things I'm grateful for. Two months later, I noticed more brighter days, better sleep, less pain and less anxiety.
Gratitude is a power that greatly remains untapped. So great is its power that the University of California, Berkeley set aside $3.1 million specifically to study gratitude and its impact on well being through their Greater Good Science Center.
I will outline the internal mechanics this simple exercise employed and changed my life for good.
Recap: I was going through an especially rough time in my life. I had switched careers much to everyone's chagrin, and I wasn't doing well. I was cash-strapped and my business was going downhill. On top of everything, I had to deal with debilitating migraines on the regular.
I needed a way out, yet I had none! I felt stuck and I was extremely anxious of the fact that I may regress to being a dependent in adulthood. That regression would have dealt a blow to my self-esteem, crippling my self-confidence and cultivating thoughts of shame.
Anyway, I eventually started journalling on the regular, and part of my writing included things I'm grateful for. Two months later, I noticed more brighter days, better sleep, less pain and less anxiety.
Gratitude is a power that greatly remains untapped. So great is its power that the University of California, Berkeley set aside $3.1 million specifically to study gratitude and its impact on well being through their Greater Good Science Center.
I will outline the internal mechanics this simple exercise employed and changed my life for good.
- More creative power: Anxiety is the number one killer of all creative power. Anxiety paves way to the many "what if's" that arise when an idea comes to mind. Being grateful on the regular subtly short-circuits anxiety that comes with new territory. For your dreams to mature, you have to venture into new territory. By simply writing down what you are grateful for, you shift your focus from what won't work to what can work. This eliminates the "what if's" that freeze creative thoughts in infancy.
- Better health: It's widely known that negativity is linked to some degenerative conditions (partly due to the excess stress hormones coarsing through your system). As a former patient of fibromyalgia, I can tell you for free that you do not want excessive stressors in your body! Your body is in pain even without a trigger. Your body will interpret any emotion as pain. With constant pain comes dependency on pain killers, which is just as bad as narcotics! Gratitude journalling forced me to be in the moment. I found myself taking time to bask when the sun was out, breathing fresh air. My list included my wonderful dog, and I instinctively made more time for her. Pets are therapeutic, and my dog helped me out with some loneliness and self-loathing issues.
- Increased productivity: Making more time for Lola, my dog, led me to learn to make time for what mattered most TO ME. With more time allocated to what I was passionate about, I found myself reading all I could find on improving my business. I have read books I thought I'd never have time for. I have listened to seminars and joined peer groups on improving myself and guess what! My business has started to improve. It's not yet where I desire it to be, but I can clearly see the upward trajectory. I have developed my skills to accommodate my passion, and this is leading to greater exposure of my business. I am a writer who is passionate about dogs. Writing about dogs has connected me to many dog owners in my area, which in turn became an effective tool for marketing my pet food business. When people see your faith and zeal in what you do, they will invest in you (and buy from you)!
- Greater resilience: Today, many months after starting my gratitude ritual, I will admit that life is far from perfect. I still have a long way to go financially, but I don't feel stuck. My business is still a helpless baby, but I still find the energy to continue improving my products. I still encounter people who discount me based on their own prejudices but I have learned not to own their prejudices - if they have a problem with me being myself, then the problem is with them. I have also learned to digest criticism in such a way that I internalize the constructive part, and reject the degrading part.
- More awareness: Writing down what you are grateful for forces you to be in the moment. Developing awareness has numerous advantages. From fine-tuning your instinct to improving creativity, self-awareness allows you to have clarity on yourself. You will note what is good and what needs improvement and guess what, you won't feel devastated when the not-so-good areas of your life are exposed. Plus, you will have more commitment to work on yourself. We all know how sweet the fruits of self-improvement are.
Comments
Post a Comment