Recession Survival Tips

Gratitude – Positive Psychology in hard times, by Acacia Parks Sheiner

One of the happiness-building strategies that has received a lot of attention in the research is gratitude (a topic about which I will be writing at length in a future blog post). We all have an intuitive sense of what it means to be grateful, and I bet most of us believe ourselves to be grateful people; indeed, if someone asked us, most us could probably say with complete sincerity that we are grateful for the good aspects of our lives. But it’s one thing to say “yeah, I’m grateful” when asked, and another thing entirely to live a life permeated by gratitude. It turns out that when it comes to happiness, there’s a big difference between gratitude on command and gratitude as an everyday habit.

The first step in getting from point A (gratitude on command, where most of us live by default) to point B (gratitude as an everyday habit) is to build a regular practice of contemplating and savoring the things for which you are grateful. Specifically, keeping a written record of your gratitude is quick (a few minutes a day), easy (all you have to do is write a few sentences), and cost-wise… well, let’s just say that it’s no $6 cup of hot chocolate; all you need is a notebook (or if you’re a technological geek like yours truly, an iPhone app). Expressing gratitude to others <!–[endif]–> doesn’t cost much either – just the time it takes to formulate your thoughts, and the effort to express those thoughts to someone to whom you are grateful. And the best part? The research tells us that feeling grateful leads to a plethora of benefits, both psychologically and physically. Did you know, for example, that grateful people sleep better and exercise more than people who are not grateful? That people who experience gratitude on a regular basis cope better with negative events and life transitions than people who do not experience gratitude frequently?

Unlike a new gadget, which costs a bundle and inevitably becomes obsolete, gratitude is both free and constantly renewable. Even better? It doesn’t just feel good in the short-term – the benefits stick with you over time in the form of improved relationships and good health.

article source: http://blog.happier.com/