“Something as simple as writing down three things you’re grateful for every day for 21 days in a row significantly increases your level of optimism”
Having (so far!) survived the greatest global health crisis for a century – and what is arguably the most consequential sociocultural catastrophe since the second world war – among the things this technophobe has been most grateful for over the past couple of years is my smartphone and its now most-used application: WhatsApp.
I was especially grateful for WhatsApp during lockdowns because working from home meant I could leave videocalls to my mother back in the UK running for hours on end so she felt as though she had some company – even when set to mute so I could get my work done! Aside from the fact I’m somewhat of news addict – who isn’t, nowadays?! – the daily calls across the globe also made me even more grateful for being part of the team of five million in fortress Aotearoa, well away from the partying prats in Westminster happy to let the pandemic run amok.
Dr Robert Emmons, author, psychology professor, and eminent scientific expert on gratitude, advises the practice of gratitude to be among the best medicines we can take at present for its power “to heal” and “to bring hope”. “Project yourself into the future and imagine how grateful you will be when your circumstances change,” he tells US Davis Health’s Newsroom. “This has been very powerful for people during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a defiant attitude that insists that gratitude is the best approach to life, no matter what.”
Gratitude as a ‘tonic’ has been promoted for at least 2,000 years by ancient philosophers such as Cicero. According to Dr Emmons, gratitude, from the Latin, gratia – meaning grace or gratefulness – comprises two stages. The first stage involves acknowledging what’s good in our lives while the second is about recognising the source of that goodness – whether it be, say, other people, the environment, or companion animals. But importantly, gratitude should always be an outward expression, a selfless recognition of the positivity of other things or people, and not something to be practised towards oneself.
Practising gratitude has been proven to have all manner of physical and mental benefits, including fighting depression and creating resilience to stress. Studies have shown that simply being more optimistic doesn’t just put you (and those around you) in a better mood from day to day but increases your lifespan by up to 15%, with more successful romantic relationships and better jobs with fewer sick days.
“Something as simple as writing down three things you’re grateful for every day for 21 days in a row significantly increases your level of optimism, and it holds for the next six months,” Harvard researcher and author Shawn Achor tells Inc.com. “The research is amazing.”
Research conducted in 2015 found folk with heart failure who kept gratitude journals had reduced inflammation and better mood and sleep. Plus, their symptoms of heart failure reduced after just eight weeks.
Further research has found that the practising gratitude to have increased activity in parts of the brain responsible for reward, morality, and judgement – possibly why it forms the basis of so many religious and philosophical teachings. A study by the University of Indiana concluded gratitude to actually rewire the brain. Psychology writer Dr Christian Jarrett describes the long-lasting neurological effects as “particularly noteworthy” suggesting the brain has “a sort of gratitude ‘muscle’ that can be exercised and strengthened”: “The more you practice gratitude,” he explains in Science of Us, “the more attuned you are to it and the more you can enjoy its psychological benefits.”
Aside from keeping a journal, ways to practise gratitude include through meditation, writing thank-you notes, voicing gratitude to others, noticing nature, developing greater self-control, thinking positive thoughts, and avoiding gossip (and possibly the news!). For religious folk, gratitude can stem from prayer.
This year marks not only hopefully the end of the pandemic (or the most dangerous stages of it, at least), but on a personal note, my tenth year in Aotearoa New Zealand (and as a writer for Verve). It’s a period of my life that has resulted in opportunities, friendships, and an appreciation for what really counts, for which I’ll be eternally grateful to both my adopted country and the folk I’ve met along the way – though I’m most certainly not so grateful for how fast that decade has gone.
