by Sarah Cramoysan | July, 2021 | Gratitude, Sarah Cramoysan
What is gratitude journaling? In the last couple of decades, research into happiness and wellbeing has shown that consciously choosing to participate in certain activities (sometimes called positive psychology interventions) can have a positive effect on our mood, increasing our happiness, optimism, and sense of wellbeing. One such simple intervention is keeping a ‘gratitude journal’ – the practice of writing down things that we feel grateful for, on a regular basis. When considering activities that might increase wellbeing, different people might be drawn to different type of activities – there is no ‘one size fits all’ in positive psychology, however, gratitude journaling is a particular favourite of mine. It is something I have found to be simple and effective, and in my master’s research project on gratitude journaling, I found that most participants who volunteered to take part enjoyed the process and found it rewarding. How do I go about gratitude journaling? It’s easy – just find a notebook or sheet of paper and each day set aside a few minutes to think about what you are grateful for, then jot it down. I keep my journal by my bed and often write before I go to sleep, which has the added benefit that I end my day thinking about something positive. I normally aim for three things, some days I’ve had a great day and more things come to mind. What I’ve found, is that if you keep it up for a couple of weeks, you gradually become more attuned to the positive and it becomes easier to think of things to write. What should I...
by Kelly Seaward - Ding | March, 2021 | Gratitude, Kelly Seaward
The Power of Gratitude The Pandemic has refocused our lives. The restrictions have created a different way of living, a new perspective and reflection process. For some of us, the treadmill of life has slowed down, for some, it has stopped completely and for some new ways of working. The family dynamics have altered as social distancing and staying within the family home and not mixing is in place. The sense of loss is felt in several areas of life, it can be through the death of loved ones, a loss of the workplace environment as furlough schemes and working from home increases and the loss of physical face to face contact with loved ones as we move to virtual meetups to stay in contact. The loss of identity and lifestyles as life changes. Even though there is an understanding of why this has had to happen, the uncertainty can be overwhelming. The How of Happiness In Sonja Lyubomirsky’s book ‘The How of Happiness’ (2010), she offers lots of activities that you can apply to your life to increase and sustain happiness in your life. It is at times like this during the pandemic when things sometimes feel difficult, that taking some action can help cultivate positive thinking, motivation and a sense of faith. The one I have found powerful at this time is expressing gratitude. I am a secondary school teacher and the changes made to Education have been tough. These changes are essential but working within an industry already known for excessive stress and burnout rates, the pressure has increased and to stop it imploding on...
by Aren Henry | December, 2019 | Gratitude, Grit/Grace/Gratitude, Karen Henry
The sound of silence. There’s a ringing in my ear. The hype of pending holiday. It’s growing very near. This year is very different. The atmosphere’s been changed. There is no joyous noel. The memories remain. The children are all grown now. The house is not a home. There are no loud voices. The mysteries all are gone. The expectation of gifts. The pending anticipation. A melancholy has settled. There is no revelation. I don’t want to buy a present. I don’t want to be in a mall. I am tired of the oversell. I’m weary of it all. I tried to hold the magic. For so very long. No stockings will be hung. Something clicked. That is all. The gift was too big to wrap. The payment too steep a climb. For so many years, a house was on the list. See, yesteryear was hard for us. Harder than you know. Everything was taken, everything was gone. So in my truest steadfastness, after I lost it all. I had one vision, one goal. To gain it back before they grew, to the point where they’re not here. I have another house now. Five years and many tears. Life has a sense of humor. It tested my endurance. While my children were still young enough, my life? It fell apart. House and home, security, the table of abundance, the companions at our feet. Gone with my sense of hope. No joy, or serendipitous wonderment. No happiness at all. But then a little spark was lit, in the darkness of my life. That one and truest gift was left. The...
by Aren Henry | November, 2019 | Gratitude, Grit/Grace/Gratitude, Karen Henry
When we heal, we experience transcendence. People who fully live in the present are able to navigate from past experiences toward a more meaningful life. Those who feel that sense of wholeness or completeness are able to transcend the lessons we learned along the path toward enlightenment. Adyashanti said, “A total acceptance of yourself brings about a total transcendence of yourself.” What does that look like? We are not afraid of not knowing. We are excited to learn more. We are not embarrassed to lack a skill. We are thrilled to have more to acquire. We do not compare ourselves with others. We become one with our now. Transcendence When we transcend the need to be happy, we ease into its truth. One’s ability to move beyond the notion of wanting or needing toward accepting means we have found our ability to simply ‘be’. There is a great deal of yearning for things that we don’t have. Money. Sex. Power. Popularity. Social approval. Value according to others. Basic needs are important, yet so are all the other parts of our hierarchy. Beyond the Basics When we study a singular concept in the field of psychology, we bring its significance to the masses. We have studied thriving, gratitude, forgiveness, love, healing, happiness and so many other singular key concepts for decades. No, not decades, millennia. We pull our strengths from both ancient texts and modern ideals. We do research, then pronounce our “newness” to the world at large. With the right sugar coated appeal, we draw in a crowd. That crowd becomes our cheerleaders, our street teams and in...
by Aren Henry | November, 2019 | Grace, Gratitude, Grit, Grit/Grace/Gratitude, Karen Henry
Abundance ‘I have abundance of …’, finish that sentence in your own voice. ‘I am abundant in …’, finish that sentence. Turn it into an action word, and now, a present day, ‘now’ phrase. The self-help industries tell us to envision it, as if we already have what we want. So do some theories in practice in the field of psychology. And in the sports industries. There is an interesting phenomenon happening in the world right now. A pull toward alternative methods of health and healing being reexamined along with the science of what it is to be human. They are more in sync with each other than one would imagine. I know this because I study both. Some of you do too. Openness to new experiences We know that several theories and models in psychology pay attention to how open people are, as a way of seeing the world. We also know that our belief system is a hot topic for today’s times that are constantly in the light. People are noticing every single event that goes on in the world, giving them an overdose of information. Then, they are wondering why they feel so very stressed out and overwhelmed. We are stressed out and overwhelmed because we are taking in too much of everything. We are abundant with information, but not necessarily clarity or education or even common sense. We are flooded with seeing a side of others we never knew was there because we are using our own lens to decide who that person is, based on a small sliver of public information about them. Positive...
by Lena Britnell | August, 2019 | Gratitude, Guilt
It may come as no surprise that as a relatively self-aware thirty something woman and mother I struggle with frequent feelings of guilt. It seems as professional women we are constantly exposed to reminders of our dual responsibility to care for others, the gratitude we should feel for our freedoms and the importance that we also strive to reach our potential in what is after all a man-made world. Guilty as charged Guilt is a negative emotion which motivates us to right a wrong. On a daily basis I feel guilty about what I spend my time doing, guilt about what I spend my time not doing, guilt about time spent away from the family, guilt about time spent away from my studies, guilt about not working, guilt about needing to step back, guilt about what I have and guilt about wanting what I don’t have. Phew! But perhaps you can relate? I have a diagnosis of both anxiety and depression, both of which are chronic features in my life. At those times when my resistance is low and my illness peaks, guilt pretty much colours much of my emotional experience. Luckily, I have become by necessity emotionally self-aware and through a study of positive psychology I can also understand a bit about the transformative capacity of negative emotions, guilt in particular. In short, I think it’s time we talked about how we could all be grateful for a bit of guilt. Gratitude works The truth about feeling grateful is that you can practice it. Through a daily gratitude practice, such as keeping a journal or simply listing three...