In August of 2013 The Journal of Happiness Studies posted an article called Strength Based Positive Interventions.
The impact of nine strengths-based positive interventions on well-being and depression was examined in an internet-based, randomized placebo-controlled study.
The goal of this study was to:
1) Replicate findings on the effectiveness of gratitude using character strengths interventions
2) Test variants of interventions
3) Test the effectiveness of gratitude and counting kindness
At the six month follow up of all 622 participants, eight of the nine interventions increased happiness; depression was decreased in all groups.
I want to point our that this certainly is not say that all you need is a little gratitude to get rid of depression
But I think this is just another great tool for all of us to have in our tool belt.
I started keeping a gratitude journal when I first got sober back in 2015 at the direction of a one of my mentors.
I was hesitant to believe that it would have any impact on my life.
But as the weeks went on, and I was making my list every morning, I did start to have a monumental shift.
Taking time each day to think about the things that I already had in my life (love, family, running water, a bed to sleep in) truly helped me shift out of the victim mindset that I had been functioning in for years.
In this day and age, a lot people are living in a lack mentality.
Television and social media outlets are constantly bombarding us with all the things that we don’t have and trying to convince us how badly we need those things to be happy.
I beg to differ…
Happiness is an inside job.
It does not stem from the next item you purchase, pound you lose, or dollar you make.
Taking some quiet time each day to be present in your life and see all the blessing that surround you will certainly shift your mindset.
If you don’t believe me, then I highly encourage you to give it a try.
With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, we hear more people talking about the things they are grateful for.
But then…
The Christmas shopping season arrives and the gratitude goes right out the window in lieu of Black Friday sales and fighting for the latest material items that we must have.
My challenge to you this month is to start a gratitude practice and maintain it until the new year.
Being mindful of the abundance that is already present in your life may very well help you to become a more conscious consumer this holiday season.
It is not joy that makes us grateful, it is gratitude that makes us joyful.
I wish you all a beautiful Thanksgiving full of GRATITUDE.