Eight Pillars of Joy: Gratitude

Every moment is a gift, an opportunity
Pause and count your blessings
Live every day like it’s the best day of your life

In a culture focused on consumption, we’re primed to focus on what we don’t have rather than what we do. However, studies show that cultivating gratitude for what you do have can lead to numerous benefits, including improved physical and psychological health, better sleep, enhanced empathy, reduced aggression, and improved self-esteem. (1)

“One does not know the value of freedom until one has it taken away,” said Anthony Ray Hinton, when interviewed on 60 Minutes. While others run out of the rain, Anthony, not having experienced it for the thirty years he was in solitary confinement for a crime he didn’t commit, runs into it every time. When asked why he was not angry at having so much of his life taken away, he said, “If I’m angry and unforgiving, they will have taken the rest of my life.”

If you’re under a lot of stress (financial, emotional, professional, etc.), it can be difficult to feel you have anything to be grateful for. However, gratitude for what you already have doesn’t mean that you can’t try to improve your circumstances. Taking time to be grateful for something is a great way to help you remember it in the long run, but also to remind yourself in the moment that there are still good things in life, even if everything seems dark and dreary.

“It is not happiness that makes us grateful. It is gratefulness that makes us happy. Every moment is a gift. There is no certainty that you will have another moment, with all the opportunity that it contains. The gift within every gift is the opportunity it offers us. Most often it is the opportunity to enjoy it, but sometimes a difficult gift is given to us and that can be an opportunity to rise to the challenge.” - Brother David Steindl-Rast

Exercises

• Take a moment to come up with three things you can be grateful for right now. Here are a few things to be grateful for:
• Family
• Friends
• The ability to breathe
• Pets
• Books
• Time to take a walk and enjoy nature
• Music
• A favorite hobby
• Food
• The chance to wake up in the morning and greet the day
• Smiling for 20 seconds releases positive emotions. It’s also contagious, if other people are around you. Smile at the person next to you for roughly 20 seconds, or at your family pet. How do you feel?
• Start a gratitude journal. Find a journal that works for you, whether it’s a physical notebook and a favorite pen, or something digital. Choose a time to write that will keep you consistent, whether you’re writing every day or once a week. If the blank page is daunting, search the internet for gratitude journal writing prompts that can help. If you’re out of ideas, try writing about a new perspective on a previous journal entry.
• This can also be great to do with an online group. If everyone is listing five things they are grateful for, it can make it easier for you to do the same. It’s also relaxing and wonderful to see what others are grateful for and to share your lists together. 

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