Gratitude: Feel more alert, have more energy & decrease stress levels...

Who wants to feel more alert, have more energy and decrease their stress levels?

Ummmm, this guy/gal (pointing at self with thumbs.)

Michael McCollough and Robert Emmons are two psychologists who conducted a groundbreaking experiment on gratitude and its impact on well-being. They found that practicing gratitude can increase happiness levels by around 25%.

Here are the high-level details of the study:

Several hundred people were split into three different groups and all of the participants were asked to keep daily diaries.
The first group kept a diary of the events that occurred during the day and were not told to write about either good or bad things.
The second group was instructed to journal their unpleasant experiences.
The last group was instructed to make a daily list of things for which they were grateful.

The study indicated practicing daily gratitude resulted in higher/stronger:

Alertness
Enthusiasm
Determination
Optimism
Energy
Creativity
Ability to bounce back more quickly from adversity
Immune system
Ability to build stronger social relationships

The study also reported:

Reduced Depression
Decreased Stress
They were more likely to help others
Exercised more regularly
Made greater progress toward achieving personal goals

To paraphrase Emmons “we don’t have to say that everything is great in our lives we just need to be aware of our blessings or what is going right in our life.”

So why not try it? Who doesn’t want to be happier right? What are you grateful for? Reflect daily and write it down. I'm going to try it now. Rachel Kloiber www.DivineSparkVA.com

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