Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving from the Peer Educators!

I love Thanksgiving. I love how it brings friends and family together. I love how it reminds us to stop taking the good things in our life for granted and acknowledge our blessings.

But I also know how easy it is to let the question, “what are you thankful for?” become trite. Going around the dinner table naming something you are grateful for becomes a ritual, and we lose sight of the significance of gratitude.

Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, gratitude isn’t something that should be saved for once a year. Gratitude, the practice of noticing and appreciating the positive aspects of our lives, can be a powerful force. Reflecting on the things we are thankful for brings us into the here and now, stops us from dwelling on negativity, and invites joy into our lives.

Gratitude doesn’t just make us feel happier, it also has lasting impact on our mental and physical health. Research published by the American Psychological Association has shown that recognizing and giving thanks for the good things in our lives can result better mood, improved sleep, less fatigue, and lowered risk of heart disease (APA, 2015). Positivity also protects us against depression, anxiety, and stress, which can increase the risk of heart disease and other physical illnesses (NPR, 2015). A study from Dr. Paul Mills, a professor at the University of California San Diego found that the more grateful people were, the healthier they were. They had less depressed mood, slept better, and had more energy!

Life is busy, challenging, and full of stressful situations, but remaining grateful and maintaing a positive attitude can help us cope and remain physically and mentally healthy. So how can you begin practicing thankfulness that extends beyond the holiday season? Here are some practical ways to start a gratitude practice:

1. Commit. Unfortunately, negativity comes more easily to us than positivity. Gratitude is a habit that takes time and discipline to form; the only way to make thankfulness come more easily is to practice. Commit to writing down just one thing that you are thankful for each day, even when you don’t feel like it.

2. Start now. Don’t put gratitude off until later when it’s easier or more convenient.

3. Write it down. Writing down what we are thankful for takes more time and effort than simply thinking about it, but it will make your practice much more effective. Writing things down forces us to think and reflect in greater detail.

4. Share gratitude with others. Look for opportunities in your relationships to express gratitude for the other person. Tell others about the things in your life that you are thankful for. Sharing your gratitude with others is a great way to hold yourself accountable as well as encourage the people around you.

Thanksgiving gives us a wonderful opportunity to devote an entire day to celebrating gratitude, but it shouldn’t be the only time we reflect on the things we are thankful for. Start practicing gratitude today, and let it become a habit.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, and confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” -Melody Beattie