Being Thankful Improves Your Health
Health and Happiness - two universal goals of all people - are just a step away. There is something you can do every day to be happy and healthy and it will cost you nothing and takes very little time -Be thankful! Gratitude, when practiced daily, will strengthen your immune system and help you approach life with greater happiness and optimism.
It’s easy. Simply focus each day on three to five things for which you can be grateful. This will increase your health and happiness and will add years to your life. We all have so much to be thankful for but sometimes the problems and troubles of life make us forget. Take time each day to give thanks for your life, for the love of your family and friends, for love and forgiveness of God and for the shelter that protects you from the cold. By consciously giving thanks even for the “basics” in your life, you will do much to improve your health and happiness. If you want to supercharge your health and happiness, express your gratitude to someone else. Share your thankful attitude with everyone you meet and see the positive changes not only in you but in them, too. If you need scientific proof, consider this.
Research from the University of California Davis indicates that"Grateful people take better care of themselves and engage in more protective health behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, and regular physical examinations."Researchers found that grateful people tend to be more optimistic, which in turn boosts theimmune system. "There are some very interesting studies linking optimism to better immune function," says Lisa Aspinwall, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Utah. "A growing body of research supports the notion that rediscovering a sense of abundance by thinking about those people and things we love lowers the risks of coronary events," offers clinical psychologist Blair Justice, Ph.D., professor-emeritus of psychology at the UT School of Public Health at Houston. Justice practices a gentle daily examination. "At the end of the day, I ask myself three questions."
"What has surprised me?"
"What has touched me?"
"What has inspired me?"
He says that "hard-bitten folks have trouble finding beauty or seeing life anew in a daily way, and their arteries and immune system suffer for it." Answering these three questions inspires us to see our days through fresh eyes.
Today, on your way home from work or as you get ready for bed, focus on 3 to 5 events of the day for which you are grateful. These need not be big events. After all, you're alive. Even being stuck in rush hour traffic can offer the benefit of soft music on your radio or quiet time to think. We each have many, many reasons to be grateful each day. As you focus on them, notice the sense of peace that envelops you and reap the benefits of greater health and happiness in your life.