The past few years have brought the world much uncertainty, and that looks set to continue in 2025. As mentioned in our last blog post, 13 Steps To New Year’s Resolutions That Stick, we’re making 2025 all about positivity and mental wellbeing. That post explained how resolutions for the new year can be a huge mental boost.
In this post, we’re looking at how a focus on gratitude can benefit your mindset.
It might sound difficult to be grateful if you think you have very few good things going on in your life right now. Or maybe you think it’s like a New Age-y thing to do that sounds like a lot of baloney. However, embracing gratitude can help to negate the negativity we often experience in life, and guess what? The idea of being grateful for that specific purpose has been around for a very long time.
Ancient philosophers, religious, and indigenous teachings across centuries and different cultures have highlighted how gratitude can result in greater fulfillment. Let’s explore how gratitude can lead to a more positive year for us all, and cover some ideas for how to be more naturally grateful in life.
Gratitude
Firstly, what is your understanding of gratitude? Most people would probably say: “maybe just being thankful for what you have?” That would be right, but there is more to it than that for positivity.
Here, we’re talking about gratitude as more than being thankful as a universal concept. We need to see gratitude as a way of thinking, and as an emotion you tap into regularly. To do this, we need to explore and define what gratitude means to each of us on a personal level.
To most of us, gratitude is about being thankful for what we have. However, it can go further than that. In being grateful, we can recognize and appreciate all that is positive in our lives. We can see that goodness does still exist in the world, despite all the uncertainty and challenges that appear to be all around us.
There are no rules to gratitude, however, it is more effective if we can develop it as a habit, and not just have it as an emotion that you occasionally tap into.
How Gratitude Leads To Fulfillment
Gratitude is a powerful part of human psychology and neuroscience, but we have only relatively begun to learn how it works and how it may bring fulfillment. So how does gratitude work to improve our mental health?
Lower Stress and Anxiety
When we purposefully concentrate on the things that make us thankful, we’re teaching our brains to focus on positive things in our lives. This can help to reduce our feelings of depression and anxiety. Seeing the positive things in life can help to break the cycle of negative thoughts. Gratitude can also help to keep down our stress levels that can lead to anxiety. How? Well, cortisol is a hormone that is linked to stress, and it has been found to be significantly lower in people who practise gratitude.
Greater Self-Esteem
It’s important to be grateful for more than the good things that happen around us. We should also look within and recognize that we should be thankful for the good things that come from us. We may deny their existence, but each of us possesses positive qualities.
Studies have shown that we can boost our self-esteem by being grateful for our attributes and achievements.
Improved Physical Health
Gratitude can enhance more than our mental health. Grateful people are more inclined to adopt healthier habits, such as eating healthily and getting regular exercise. Positive emotions have also been linked to a more resilient immune system, sleeping better, and living longer.
Here Comes The Science!
You’ve probably heard of dopamine and serotonin. These are neurotransmitters that affect how you feel. Dopamine, for example, is known as the feel-good hormone. Our brains release these neurotransmitters when we genuinely experience gratitude, and if it happens regularly enough, this can develop into a habit, helping us to develop a more positive mindset.
It is up to us to master the mood-altering power of dopamine and serotonin. And we can do this using gratitude! But the psychology behind gratitude is also fascinating, and understanding it will help us harness its potential.
Glass At Least Half Full
Consumerism constantly pushes us to believe we do not have enough, or aren’t enough. Gratitude allows us to see all the positive things in our lives, and adjusts our view so we recognize what we already have, instead of focusing on we think we are missing.
Greater Resilience
Gratitude allows us to take stock of the good things in life and gain strength to face the challenges and unexpected obstacles that occur in life. This resilience means we can rally when faced with difficulty and use our positivity to get back up if we’re knocked down.
Better Relationships
Being grateful, appreciating our own strengths, and having a deeper sense of self-esteem means we can make others feel valued. Showing our loved ones how much we value them means fostering a deeper social connection, which consequently improves our happiness.
This can be especially important for loved ones who require care. It’s important to let our loved ones know how much we value them. If you have been searching for care options for your loved one in Florida, EJAI Loves Homecare offers affordable expert in-home medical care from registered and qualified professionals who will not let you down.
More Optimism
When we feel better about ourselves and all the good things we have in life, it helps us to look forward to what is yet to come. Feeling better means feeling more free and confident, and the anticipation of a more positive future helps us to pursue our personal goals with vigor.
How To Generate Gratitude
Okay, so we’ve covered how good it is to have a grateful mindset. Now, how about we look at how you can do it and turn it into a habit? Here are some practical ideas for how you can make gratitude a daily habit and a part of your life.
Gratitude Journal
Just take a few minutes out of each day to write what you’re grateful for in a journal. Each entry doesn’t need to be deep and dramatic. You can express your gratitude for the simplest things. Like the pleasure of ice cream on a hot summer’s day. Or an act of kindness you experienced or saw. Writing helps us to learn, and writing a gratitude journal should help us develop a habit of gratitude.
Give Thanks
Speak up when you need to give thanks to someone. Expressing gratitude to others helps to strengthen relationships and also helps you develop your ability to appreciate others. It doesn’t need to be a verbal acknowledgment, you can write a thank you note. And you don’t have to be thankful for something specific, you can thank someone just for being part of your life.
Acts Of Kindness
An act of kindness for a stranger, a random act of kindness – with no expectation of getting something in return, can be one of the most powerful ways to develop gratitude. Sure, you’ll be doing something good for someone else, but you’ll also be helping yourself feel positive about the good you’re putting out into the world. It doesn’t need to be something big either.
Give someone directions, help a person carry their shopping home, buy a homeless person something to eat.
Count Your Blessings
When you’re in a tough spot, you might be inclined to wallow in your situation. But by looking on the positive side and taking stock of all you still have going for you you’re changing your perspective. This will help you find the strength to get through your difficulties.
Set Up A Gratitude Jar
Use an empty jar and a notepad to create your very own gratitude jar. It’s easy: each day, write down something you’re grateful for on a sheet of your notepad, and then pop it in the jar. After a month or so, you’ll have a whole jar of positive moments you can use whenever you need a little boost for your self-esteem.
Remind Yourself
Set up a little reminder on your phone, or in your daily diary to remember to be grateful. When you get your reminder, spend a few moments pondering what you’re grateful for.
Three Good Things
Pick a time when you can calmly reflect on the day you have had each day. Look back on the day and find three good things you can pull from it. Could be a moment you helped someone, or someone helped you. It could be some praise you received, or some positive outcome.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to remember it will take time to develop a habit of generating gratitude. But, hopefully, with the steps above, you will change your perspective and make a habit of gratitude. Making gratitude a part of your life should bring more joy into your life while also giving you the resilience to navigate the obstacles life throws at you.
Gratitude is a journey that holds the power to transform your way of thinking and your life. As 2025 gets underway properly, let’s also get our personal growth underway and see if we can change things up this year.
A positive change is possible, and gratitude is the key to seeing that positives still exist, despite any challenges you’re facing. No matter what you’re going through, you can find reasons to be thankful.
2025 can be a great year for us all. We just need the willingness to go into it with open minds and hearts. Being grateful can help us connect to the world and give a deeper meaning to the relationships we have with our loved ones. With patience and commitment, it can also result in a more fulfilling life.
Perhaps we’ll need gratitude and love more than ever in 2025, so let’s make it happen!
Don’t hesitate to contact the team at EJAI Loves Homecare to discuss in-home care options for your loved one. They’re ready and waiting to help.