Holiday Doldrums? Not Feeling so Grateful?
By Nancy Lee Bentley, * Wholistic Health Expert. Posted on .
Emphasizing that gratitude is not merely a positive emotion and backing up his claims with eight years of intensive research in his best-selling book, “Thanks! How The New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier,” Emmons says, “Without gratitude, life can be lonely, depressing and impoverished. Gratitude enriches human life. It elevates, energizes, inspires and transforms.”
He also explains how gratitude – if cultivated by also consciously letting go of “victim mentality” and sense of entitlement – can not only improve health, but produce significant improvements in several areas of life, including stronger academics, relationships, and communities, as well as higher energy levels and even greater ability to deal with tragedy and crisis.
The point is not just to wait for yourself to feel grateful, like when you’re receiving gifts, but to actively start practicing gratitude for no reason, for what you do have, for everything. It can grease the wheels of your life. And when you get them going, waves of joy and gratitude can water your dreams.
Hey, for starters, how about being thankful for the misinterpretations of the end of the Mayan calendar, “end of the world 2012” that didn’t happen…
Gratitude heals. And sometimes, it can open doors that nothing else can.
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