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GRUMPY OR GRATEFUL - Is your attitude good for your health?


Dr Kathryn Owler and Ross Thomson


New research suggests that our attitude has a significant impact on our health. And, you guessed it, being grumpy does not generally result in a long, healthy life! On the flipside, living a grateful life leads to better overall health, fewer physical symptoms and more energy. Gratitude can also be a helpful strategy when dealing with personal loss such as work redundancy, financial or relationship issues. Indeed, the health and general well-being benefits of gratitude are so positive, that they should have us all enthusiastically counting our blessings.

What is good about gratitude?

Researchers have found that grateful or optimistic people experience the following physical benefits:

• They exercise more regularly
• Report fewer physical symptoms (such as headaches and stomach aches)
• Experience more positive states of alertness
• Sleep more easily & experience better sleep quality
• May experience higher levels of immunoglobulin A, allowing them to better fight common viral infections
• Have reduced stress hormone levels in the body

Research suggests that the wider well-being benefits and qualities that flow from gratitude include:

• Higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality
• Lower levels of depression
• Better able to handle stress i.e. resulting from such things as redundancy, financial or relationship challenges and so on
• Social networks find grateful people generous and helpful
• There is a greater likelihood amongst grateful people of them acknowledging a belief in the interconnectedness of all life and a commitment to and responsibility to others
• Less importance is placed on material goods or trying to emulate others materially
• Possessions are more likely to be shared with others

How can I cultivate a grateful attitude?

Dr Robert Emmons, a psychology researcher at the University of California-Davis is one of the leading gratitude researchers in the U.S. He believes that gratitude has powerful benefits and suggests the following strategies to help us easily cultivate a grateful attitude:

Keep a daily gratitude journal:
Dr Emmons believes that keeping a gratitude journal can be an extremely effective tool in developing gratitude and experiencing the benefits outlined above. He argues that the practice of gratitude can increase happiness levels by around 25%. And, this is not hard to achieve. A few hours writing a gratitude journal over three weeks can create an effect that lasts 6 months if not more. And, gratitude is not just about settling for what we have. Dr Emmons found that people who keep gratitude journals can actually be more successful in achieving important personal goals (e.g. health, academic and interpersonal).

Use Visual Reminders:
Two obstacles to being grateful are forgetfulness and lack of awareness. You can counter them by giving yourself visual cues that trigger thoughts of gratitude. Emmons explains that he puts Post-It notes listing his blessings in many places, including on his refrigerator, mirrors and the steering wheel of his car. Another strategy is to set a pager, computer or PDA to signal you at random times during the day and to use the signal to pause and count blessings.

Focus on the good things others have done for you:
This can make us realize how interdependent we are and makes us realize that we are loved.

Find gratitude partners or supporters:
Ask a friend or family member to help you. It's often hard to see for ourselves how much we are complaining.

Appreciate the moment:
Use your senses to come into the present and appreciate the small gifts in the moment - the smile of a child, the taste of sweet fruit, the beauty of a sunset.

Take grateful actions:
Smile, perform random acts of kindness, help a stranger.

Use the positive strategies above and any other strategies you can think of to reduce grumpiness and develop an attitude of gratitude in your life. Celebrate the joy of life by becoming a habitually grateful person. People will like being around you. And, you will be able to use gratitude as a strategy to help you better meet life's challenges. Gratitude increases both your health and general well-being. Give it a try and see what happens!

Dr Kathryn Owler and Ross Thomson co-direct Joyworkz Ltd

REFERENCES

Campbell, Bruce. Count your blessings - how gratitude improves your healthy. Retrieved 31/1/09. http://www.cfidsselfhelp.org

Heubeck, Elizabeth. Boost your health with a dose of gratitude. Retrieved 31/1/09. http://women.webmd.com

New Zealand Herald. 31/1/09. Smile - you may live longer

The Brain Fitness Authority. Enhance Happiness and Health by Cultivating Gratitude: An Interview with Robert Emmons. Retrieved 31/1/09. http://www.sharpbrains.com



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