The Importance of Gratitude

So glad to be back posting my weekly Protect Your Mental Content! These past few weeks have been emotionally and mentally draining for me. With the passing of my grandmother in law, juggling the many ideas I have in store for PYM, planning a wedding, and juggling school, internship, and a full time job that I’m on the verge of wanting to quit; these past few weeks have been extremely trying. HOWEVER, I’m truly grateful for everything that’s on my plate and the fact that I can admit and say, I’m OVERWHELMED!!

So this week, I want to speak on gratitude. Being grateful for all that we have in life is one of the keys to true happiness. By recognizing all of the good things we have to be appreciative for, rather than dwelling on the negative, often those ‘not so good’ things don’t seem so bad once we shift our mindset to positives. Yeah, I get that it’s hard to be positive at a moment where you feel that everything is being thrown at you all at once, BUT we have to start practicing being grateful somewhere and with something. Science teaches us that the practice of being grateful for what we have as numerous healthy benefits. Things like improving health, relationships, our well-being, and even our sleep. It improves our emotions by allowing us to feel more positive feelings and to bounce back from stress and difficulties.

One thing that’s encouraged is writing down the things we are grateful for. With the current population I work with, we have our client’s start off their morning naming 3 POSITIVE things they are grateful for. I work with the addictions population and it’s highly encouraged that this is done. This helps them with days when they are feeling low and gives them a sense of purpose that the day isn’t all bad, and that they can get through it.

Being grateful doesn’t imply that you’ve got your rose-colored glasses permanently on. Nor does it mean that everything is necessarily “good”, it simply means that you’re aware of your blessings, appreciate the small things and acknowledge all that you do have. So today I’m grateful to have loving friends and family around me, I have a job to support me, and I have the pleasure of gaining another guardian angel. So what are you grateful for today? 🧠 🌱