The Power of Gratitude and Resiliency

The way our brain, emotions and physical health co-exist and influence each other is amazing! It has been found that your attitude and general outlook on life can have a major impact on your overall health. This is where a more optimistic outlook on life can make a huge difference. However, this can be easier said than done.

What are we to do when life doesn’t go the way we planned and all we want to do is hole up somewhere?

Start with always having gratitude.

No matter how bleak it might look at certain points in your life. Being able to find gratitude in everyday life, no matter how big or small, can train your mind to stay in a more positive state. This will not only carry over into a better life outlook, but also improve your overall health. Gratitude and being positive help to beneficially balance our body’s hormones and make us more resilient to whatever trouble and worries come our way.

How to have gratitude daily.

There are a lot of options:

• Try to make a point to pause at the same time each day to think of what you’re grateful for.
• To make it stick even better, try writing it down daily. It has been found that writing can help reinforce your thoughts and feeling so this is just an added bonus.
• Say what your grateful for out loud to reinforce them.
• Review and take time to reflect on what you’re grateful for periodically for inspiration.
• Your list can be as small or big as you want.
• Make sure to include gratefulness in the extraordinary and everyday events of your life each day. They all count!

Related read: Habit Tracker Bullet Journal Ideas

Learn to see the best in all situations.

No matter how small, be grateful! Be happy that you have a warm home, that you have a family to care for, that you’re mail came today, the sun is shining, the rain that will make everything beautifully green, or the kindness of a stranger’s smile. It’s great to celebrate all these small moments in life to keep perspective on what really matters!

Be resilient to life’s stresses.

Stresses in life are inevitable. However, you can control the way you handle them by adopting positive life practices. Gratitude is just the start! Here are some other way to help you cope:

• Have gratitude for a handful of daily events EVERYDAY.
• Have a supportive social network that truly has good intentions for your life (not someone that criticizes, gossips, and complains all time!)
• In addition to finding a supportive social group, don’t forget to be supportive of yourself! Minimize negative self talk. Be gentle to yourself!
• With your social network, try to complain less and problem solve more. If there is nothing that can be done for a certain situation, continually re-calling it will only give it more power over your life. If it is an issue that you can soundly discuss then use your network and get to work! (Note: gossip and complaining are so ingrained in our culture this will take some attention to work!)
• Be an optimist. Choose to focus on and see the good in any situation. It has been found that optimist’s are much less likely to be ill and recover quicker for injuries or illness when they do occur.
• Be flexible. Don’t see bad situations as an end-all but rather try your best to adapt and move on. Being open to change and new “opportunities” is key to keeping life as stress free and enjoyable as possible.
• Continually strive to discovery and learn new things (no matter how big or small). Set small achievable goals and big dreams to strive for to give life meaning that we all strive for.
• Have a consistent exercise routine (see “E”).
• Take care of your body (see the rest of your GREEN options) including enough sleep, adequate nutrition and frequent relaxation.
• Have a mindfulness routine. Whether its meditation, yoga, or deep breathing, this is one many people are hesitant to start but it can have profound changes! Being mindful changes your chemical make up to help you to manage stress in a healthier manner.

You get to decide if your life is focused on suffering or thriving. Where will you start today?!

Resources:

The Soulmate Experience: A Practical Guide to Creating Extraordinary Relationships. by Mali Apple and Jon Dunn (Amazon link here.)

Virtues develop from a secure base: attachment and resilience as predictors of humility, gratitude and forgiveness. (Full article here.)

Positive thinking: stop negative self-talk to reduce stress. (Link here.)

The Road to Resilience. (Link here.)

When Science Meets Mindfulness. (Link here.)