gratitude

Gratitude: My Patient and Wise Friend

Gratitude: My Patient and Wise Friend

Staring at the dark ceiling again, I cringe at the uneven snore escaping from the relaxed form next to me. My young children describe the sound as a bear, I just call it unbearable. I have studied sleep cycles. I know how crucial sleep is. I know first hand the effects of its deprivation. Knowing I’m missing its protective, healing, and consolidating benefits doesn’t help. Nudging the peaceful partner next to me doesn’t help. Shaking him doesn’t even help. Where did he get this superhuman sleeping power from, and why can’t I have it too? None of these thoughts help either. Frustration, deep fatigue, desperation, and pity all begin to take root inside of me. “Please, please just let me sleep,” I cry.

Exploring the Meaning Behind Resilience

Exploring the Meaning Behind Resilience

Resilience is a characteristic that most people probably strive to master—in life, there are countless opportunities and rewards we may long for, but they aren’t guaranteed. It requires work to obtain these rewards. And, even after putting in the work, our efforts may not yield a desirable outcome. This is where resilience comes in—being able to move forward without giving up. I wanted to learn more about resilience from a scientific perspective, so I turned to positive psychology journals and found a lot more than I was expecting. Needless to say, resilience has a lot of aspects to it that I was not expecting! It helped me to understand myself better and see opportunities for growth, rather than trying to label myself as either “resilient” or “weak”. I thought it would be more meaningful to rely not only on the scientific definitions I found, but also on the lived experiences of some of the most resilient people I know.

Growing Gratitude with Gratitude P.I.E.

Growing Gratitude with Gratitude P.I.E.

Gratitude has been widely studied in recent years. Higher gratitude is associated with higher self-esteem, optimism, and positive emotions (Unaneu, 2019). In addition, practicing gratitude can also lead to lasting positive physiological changes in the brain (Kini, 2016). Read more about the positive effects of gratitude in this module on the MyBestSelf101 website. If gratitude has such impactful implications to our health and happiness, it seems as though it would be wise to enjoy its effects more than just once a year on Thanksgiving - the way that we often enjoy pumpkin pie. We can enjoy the positive benefits of gratitude year round by experimenting with these three simple tactics to grow our thankfulness with a hypothetical slice of “gratitude P.I.E.” The acronym P.I.E. stands for Pause to appreciate your physical body, Internalize small victories, and Excitement for others. As you sit down to your Thanksgiving smorgasbord this year, remember that you can experience the sweet and life-changing effects of boosting your gratitude every day of the year by serving yourself a slice of your very own gratitude P.I.E.

Deep Gratitude

Deep Gratitude

Throughout the years, we have all probably made several “gratitude” lists—you know, those ones inspirational speakers encourage you to make. You follow their instructions by finding a blank piece of paper and jotting down 8-10 different things that you’re grateful for. Maybe on your list are things like your job, your family, a next-door neighbor, or a favorite food. 

In my experience, I feel a sense of warmth and happiness as I make lists like these. However, I must admit that somehow, these lists have never really stuck with me—they get shuffled among all my other papers, journals, and books, and if you were to ask me to show you a gratitude list I’ve made, I can’t say I would be able to find one. 

As a society, we praise gratitude. As an individual, I also praise it. So, why do I find myself making list after list, never really remembering the things I put on them? 

Gratitude—You Can Even Be Grateful for the Quirky Building

Gratitude—You Can Even Be Grateful for the Quirky Building

When I got home, I felt like a brand new person. My situation was the exact same—my homework did not magically do itself and my work was still stressful. However, I was changed. My whole perception of the world seemed to shift more positively, and I felt so much resolution that I could accomplish even the hardest of tasks before me. I attribute every ounce of this change in perception to taking a few moments to mindfully focus on gratitude.