According to Greater Good Science Center at University of California, Berkeley, gratitude’s amazing powers can shift us from focusing on the negative to appreciating what is positive in our lives. People who practice gratitude daily tend to have:
- Fewer feelings of isolation and loneliness
- A stronger immune system
- Better sleep
- Lowered blood pressure
- Reduced anxiety and depression
- Reduction in body aches and pains
- More forgiveness
- Increased satisfaction at work
My New Gratitude Habit
To develop a daily habit of gratitude and fulfill a personal goal to improve my Procreate app skills, I designed this playful graphic and shared to social media (LinkedIn and Facebook) on Nov. 1, which marked the first day of National Gratitude month.
Roxy’s gratitude graphic. What are you grateful for today?
So far, my experiment has been a success; after the first three days of practice, I was bursting with gratitude! I thanked my husband for the renovations he’s made to our home which we’re now spending most of our time together in and for preparing healthy and delicious meals each night.
Gratitude is Meant to Be Shared
To further hold myself accountable to my daily commitment, I sent the graphic to peers in my workgroup and invited them to participate with me. Using the prompts on corresponding days, I kicked off meetings by asking participants to share what they were grateful for, sharing first what I was grateful for to model the behavior.
What I’ve enjoyed most about this activity was the opportunity to grow relationships and say thank you by sharing stories that might not have come up through our day-to-day discussions.
I’ve seen my graphic shared on social media along with the posters’ personal gratitude reflections. As Thanksgiving approaches, I hope it may inspire creative ways for some to celebrate the holiday virtually as needed.
Comment below what you are grateful for. I promise it will make you feel good.
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I am grateful that the pandemic has provided me with extra memories with my children that I would not have had otherwise. It may not always be easy, but the memories I will treasure forever
Thank you for sharing this positive outlook April, enjoy the memory making!