Practicing Gratitude in Your Family

As the holidays season continues, one of the greatest gifts you can give your family is to strategically develop their sense of gratitude. Rather than having the focus be on presents or parties, you have an opportunity to help them turn their attention to others and to cultivate a sense of gratitude.

Exploring Gratitude

gratitude

I was doing some nerdy reading recently and stumbled on a scholarly publication called “The Journal of Happiness Studies.” Yes, please! Basically these scholars review and approve articles all related to Happiness. Turns out study after study has been done to try to break the code on how to make us happier.

Gratitude and Dissatisfaction

It can be difficult to listen to someone express dissatisfaction with an open mind.
Instead of receiving the comments as a reflection of someone else’s feelings, we insert ourselves into the mix, imbuing their comments with accusation and expectation and responding with defensiveness.

The Definition of Gratitude

We often interchange the words “thankfulness” and “gratitude”. And while they are related in definition, if we look closer, we can see a few differences.

Cultivating Gratitude in Your Kids

Many parents today face a struggle in how to help their children develop a true sense of gratitude. Not just around the holidays, but throughout the rest of the year as well. One of the biggest ways to help your kids be grateful is to model gratitude yourself in your everyday life.

Choosing Gratitude

gratitude

While there is significant value in an intentional apology when we have wronged someone, these passing apologies often come from our own feelings of discomfort. What would happen if we began replacing our everyday apologies with gratitude?

The Power of Gratitude

gratitude

Gratitude and appreciation can be healing and increase your overall happiness. Research by psychologists recently has found that intentionally incorporating thankfulness into your life causes an improvement in mood and well-being. It’s a shift in the way you see things, and changes you from a glass half empty to a glass half full person. It sounds overly simplistic, but it really works.

Gratitude Journaling: The Power of Being Grateful

Journaling is a well-known and widely used practical approach to gain insight and clarity by processing your emotions on paper. Over the past decade, gratitude journaling has gained popularity for its benefits, including better sleep, fewer symptoms of illness, and more happiness among adults and kids.