The 30-Day Gratitude Challenge: Are you in?
Gratitude is the act of being thankful; showing appreciation for others and displaying kindness. Sometimes when we are struggling in life it is hard to enter into a practice of gratitude. How can we find joy in pain? Full transparency: it is so hard, but so needed when we are struggling. When we take the focus off ourselves and our situation, we make a space where healing can begin. Admittedly, gratitude is not a magic pill, but it WILL help lift our mood, shift our focus, and help us find hope again.
So how do we cultivate a practice of gratitude? How about we jump right in! I'm inviting you right now to join with me in a 30-day Gratitude Challenge. It's easy to take part, and I am confident you'll find it rewarding. Here's all you have to do:
Over the next 30 days, just list one thing a day that you are grateful for. That's not too difficult, right? Then at the end of 30 days, review your list and notice if there is a shift in your overall mental health and well-being.
When you complete the challenge, I invite you to reach out to me and share what you discovered. I can't wait to hear what you find!
5 scientific benefits of gratitude
Doing a Gratitude Challenge is not just a warm and fuzzy exercise, in case you're wondering. Science has identified real health benefits that are directly connected to gratitude. As you progress with your daily practice, consider these 5 benefits that gratitude can bring you:
1. Gratitude improves psychological health, increases happiness, and reduces depression
It's been said that happiness is a skill rather than a condition. When you let yourself focus on how grateful you are for someone or something in your life, mental pictures come to mind of happy times and happy feelings. Hard to be depressed when you're having a vision of what's going right!
2. Gratitude improves physical health
Gratitude improves our physical health by increasing immunity and reducing stress levels, which can also reduce inflammation, a culprit behind many chronic diseases. Every cell in your body is alive and striving to stay healthy. It would be great to take a moment and be grateful for your billions of hard-working cells.
3. Gratitude improves empathy and reduces aggression
When you are practicing gratitude for what you have, it is much easier to imagine the struggle of someone who doesn't have the same possessions or advantages you do. Gratitude helps you see that we are all connected.
4. Gratitude improves self-esteem
It's a fact: When you're practicing gratitude, you feel better about everything you're doing. You're more disposed to give yourself a little bit of a break -- not in self-pity but in self-acknowledgment. You know how hard you try, and it's okay to be grateful for the journey.
5. Gratitude improves resilience
We all get knocked down, sometimes very painfully. Gratitude helps us get back up and try again. After all, a defeat in one area of our lives doesn't stop us across the board. We all have so many reasons to be grateful, it only makes sense to come back and meet the next challenge with a smile.
Take the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge and see what happens in your life
From improving your psychological and physical health to reducing aggression and increasing happiness, gratitude has something to offer everyone. So what do you say? Let's jump in and start our 30-day Gratitude Challenge today.
In fact, I'll start. Today I'm grateful for YOU. I'm grateful that you made the choice to show up in your life and invest in yourself!
When you've finished your 30 day gratitude challenge, here's where to reach me. I'd truly love to connect and hear about your experience..
And now…it's your turn! Right now, this minute, what are you grateful for? Click here to have your 30 day Gratitude Journal emailed to you.
With Gratitude
