CAN GRATITUDE HELP YOU LIVE LONGER? The Science Behind Counting Your Blessings
There are few things more impacting in our lives than learning how to be thankful. The “good days” are famously never realized when we’re having them, but rather, long after they’re gone. But why do we have to wait to reflect and feel gratitude for our experiences? Tomorrow is promised to nobody — we only have the current moment for certain. That’s a pretty good reason to be thankful. And, as it turns out, science has a few reasons, too. Research shows that by spending 5 minutes journaling each day about what you’re grateful for, you can increase your long-term happiness. When positive events happen in our lives, it’s easy to feel gratitude and appreciation for the moment, but that feeling isn’t exclusive to that moment. We can try to access it at any time, which research also shows can increase our self-esteem. For these reasons, it’s no surprise to hear that gratitude can significantly decrease depressive symptoms. While that alone can help patients
increase their lifespan, patients with hypertension — which is often referred to as the “silent killer” of conditions — can also experience a significant decrease in their blood pressure from practicing gratitude writing. This leads to improved sleep and overall enhanced well-being, since decreasing your blood pressure can even make huge strides to avoid chronic heart diseases. It might even motivate you to exercise more! Don’t just take our word for it, though. Science tells us that grateful people are healthy people. The more grateful you are, the more likely you are to enjoy better physical health and psychological health. If you’re having trouble sticking to your health-related New Year’s resolutions, maybe it’s time to add gratitude to your list. Although this year has been more difficult and challenging than usual for many of us, that might make gratitude all the more important to practice.
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