The Great Gains of Giving Thanks
Each November, just as the pilgrims did, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day by loading up our dining tables with an abundance of food to share with family and friends, enjoying our good fortune.
Part of this holiday, however, seems to have changed over the years—our Heaven-directed prayers of gratitude. Often times, our mealtime prayers become truncated (and lacking in specifics), or they’re forgotten altogether. Maybe it’s a sign of a more widespread lack of personal gratitude.
What if we resurrected and expanded this aspect of Thanksgiving and made EVERY DAY of day of THANKS-GIVING? You and I have blessed with friends, family, fun times, and a small fortune (when compared to most the world’s population). What’s needed is the acknowledgement that each of these are gifts have been bestowed on us by the kindness of our Creator. And for that, we should readily give thanks!
As a healthcare worker with over 30 years of experience, I have long believed the health of our physical bodies improves when we made it a practice to paint the backdrop of our lives in a shade of heart-felt gratitude. And, boy, do I have some great studies to prove it!
According to a 2012 study published in Personality and Individual Differences, grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier than other people. They were also found to take better care of their bodies by attending regular check-ups and by exercising more consistently.
In 2011, a study published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, found that grateful people sleep better. Specifically writing in a “grateful journal” for 15 minutes prior to shut eye made for more peaceful sleep and for longer sleep duration.
How can you make gratitude more of an everyday habit? Here’s a few suggestions:
- Throughout your day, look for opportunities to express your thankfulness directly to others for ways they add to something good to your life.
- Whisper up prayers of gratitude for commonly overlooked blessings: your food-filled refrigerator, your washing machine and dryer, your car which starts up when you need to drive somewhere, your legs which hold you upright when you get out of bed…
- Before lights out, recall three specific things/people for which you are truly grateful. Either write them down or “pray them up.”
- Keep an ongoing gratitude list. See how many specific things you can give thanks for each month.
May you always be surrounded by people, things, and experiences for which you are truly grateful—as I am for you. Happy Thanksgiving!