I love the late Autumn and early Winter. It brings us cooler wind, warmer drinks, more colorful trees, and fonder get-togethers with family. It truly is one of my favorite times of year, perhaps even more-so this year due to missing everything due to the pandemic last year. Yet, despite my heightened awareness of all this goodness, I still hear myself complaining about this or that at the end of the day. This complaining is starting bum me out. Can you relate?
We’re all prone to complaining sometimes. It’s been a difficult couple of years for us, to say the least! However, there is a strong body of scientific research that suggests complaining, and posturing a general orientation of complaint toward one’s life, can actually contribute to symptoms of anxiety and depression. As a person who is already prone to anxiety and depression, I certainly don’t want to be hurting my chances of feeling better by complaining!
I believe the missing key for me, and perhaps for all of us, is gratitude. November is a season of gratitude! We are even blessed with an entire holiday dedicated to giving thanks.
From day to day, there are so many people, places, and things we take for granted, rarely expressing our thankfulness for them. Family members, close friends, partners, kids, jobs with decent income, opportunities to rest, another day sober, fun hobbies, a warm and dry place to call “home”, even the breath in our lungs — the list of what we could be grateful for is endless.
There’s also a strong body of scientific research that suggests that practicing daily gratitude can actually improve your mental health and quality of life! One such study, completed cooperatively by the University of Miami and the University of California, tested the effectiveness of daily gratitude practice. In the study, one group of people wrote a few things they were grateful for down in a journal each day. Another group of people wrote a few complaints down in their journals each day. A third group did not journal at all, as control in the experiment. The researchers found that the group of people that kept a daily gratitude journal felt “more optimistic and better about their lives” – and on top of this, the group was also much more likely to exercise and got sick less often than the other two groups.
So, what are you grateful for today? I challenge you to practice expressing thankfulness by beginning a brief gratitude journal today. Each day, write down 3 things you are grateful for, and why you are grateful for them. A single sentence for each thing will suffice. By the end of the month of November, if it’s working as well for you as it has been working for me, just keep it going for the rest of the year. Here’s to improved moods and more positive outlooks on our daily lives!
-written by Chase Cotten, Community Director
