How are you doing these days? Every day we go through various challenges and stories of journeys in living life. Starting from pleasant experiences to unpleasant experiences. The process that has gone through to this day generates its own dynamics in our lives. There are several things that can help us to get through the dynamics of life, one of which is to be grateful.
What is Grateful?
Gratitude comes from the Latin word 'gratia', which means grace, generosity or gratitude. According to the American Psychological Association, gratitude (gratitude) is an award that is done in the form of gratitude for what a person has or does not have in his life.
With gratitude, a person will be encouraged to see the kindness or positive emotions that are present in his life. But as it turns out, practicing gratitude isn't as easy as saying it. Here Kampuspsikologi has summarized 8 reasons why you should be grateful for living life!
8 reasons why you should be grateful!
There are many psychological studies that mention the benefits of being grateful. This will encourage you to be able to practice gratitude for its great benefits. Gratitude has been widely studied, especially in the field of positive psychology. Among the many benefits and studies regarding gratitude here are 8 of them:
1. Gratitude makes you much happier
The gratitude that is present to you will encourage you to pay more attention to what you already have at the moment than what you don't have. This condition results in a more positive outlook on life because you will be much more focused on yourself.
A positive outlook on the life you live will encourage you to feel much happier than not being grateful for what you have and continuing to feel lacking. This condition often occurs when we continue to compare ourselves with others. Do you feel much happier with the condition?
2. Gratitude improves psychological well-being
Gratitude has a strong positive impact on a person's psychological well-being, self-esteem, and depression. When you live life gratefully, you will feel more about what you have at the moment. The sense of sufficiency that is present in you produces a sense of psychological serenity because you can accept yourself completely and as you are.
3. Gratitude increases positive emotions
Some research shows that gratitude that comes as a positive emotion can reduce envy and make you more resilient. For example, when someone gets a much better score than you, then you will be more able to develop a positive attitude than to be jealous of other people's achievements.
4. Gratitude reduces symptoms of depression
From research conducted by Seligman (2005), gratitude can reduce the symptoms of depression possessed by a person by 35% for several weeks. Gratitude that forms positive emotions and views in living life will encourage a person to focus on living life with what one has at the moment. But be careful, yes, not always depressive disorders occur because of a lack of gratitude, yes!
5. Gratitude reduces blood pressure
As it turns out, gratitude also has a physiological impact on a person. From the research of Shipon (1977), gratitude that is present in people with hypertension can reduce blood pressure significantly so as to make their health condition much better.
6. Gratitude improves sleep quality
In addition to having an impact on psychological conditions, gratitude also has a positive impact on a person's sleep quality. One of the studies mentioned that gratitude interventions carried out for two weeks can improve sleep quality and reduce blood pressure in participants, leading to improved well-being (Jackowska, Brown, Ronaldson, & Steptoe, 2016).
7. Gratitude increases social support
Someone who is more grateful will have access to more social support. The positive attitude that is present in someone who is grateful will make him more open and able to establish social relationships much better than someone who is not grateful.
8. Gratitude makes you give more
The benefits of being grateful can not only be felt by yourself, but also by those around you. Gratitude can reduce selfishness and encourage a person to share more with others, even at the expense of themselves.
Cultivating gratitude is a skill that can be developed by anyone. Being grateful will encourage you to focus on today's situation so that you can focus more on living life. Gratitude can not only be done to something big, but also to small things that you rarely even realize.
Starting from health, sunshine, leisure, and ease of technology is a form of thing that can also be part of your gratitude. You can practice and practice gratitude through self-reflection or by keeping a gratitude journal by writing things you are grateful for every day. Keep the spirit to process and be grateful every day, yes!
I just upvoted this. Nice write up ✍️
Yes I agree with you