Malinee speaks with LMFT, Louisa Triandis on how to focus more on gratitude.
Gretchen Ruben, in her book, The Happiness Project spends a lot of time on the subject of gratitude. And that makes sense! Gratitude has incredible power to help us change our outlook. Studies have demonstrated that writing one good thing per day in a happiness journal can have as much impact on depression as Prozac. Given how easy the task is, it is certainly worth a try!
Of course, the more things you can come up with, the better you are going to feel. It might be easy to think, “I’m thankful for my friends.” “I’m thankful that I have food to eat and a roof over my head.” How creative can you be in what you are grateful for? Gratitude often helps us find the silver lining in difficult situations. For example, I have been super grateful for Zoom during Covid Quarantine. It’s allowed to me stay connected to people all over the country, including some friends who I had not “seen” on a regular basis in years. Be silly and creative and make a list of anything you can think of. Read it over when you are feeling down. See if that gratitude doesn’t bring about a little shift in how you are feeling. Here is a start of a list for you to change or add to:
- Family
- Friends
- My dog
- My bed
- Strawberries
- Avocados
- Post It notes
- Good books
- Trees
- My favorite mug and tea in the morning
- Sweatpants
Have a question for Louisa or us about gratitude? Ask us HERE