Do you always focus on the negative things in your life instead of focusing on the positives? If yes, you must try to maintain a grateful list and overcome your victim mentality. Grateful lists or gratitude journals are known to nourish your mind, body, and soul and leave you with a sense of well-being. Read on to know what a grateful list is and how it is beneficial.
What Is A Grateful List?
It is like maintaining a diary, with a few minor differences. When you make a grateful list, you make a note of the things in your life you are grateful or thankful for. It can include simple things like enjoying a good meal, having a great conversation with your best friend, or taking a walk in the rain. Grateful lists make you more self-aware and optimistic and enhance your sense of connectedness with others. Being grateful improves your relationship with others and attracts people to you.1 The crux of maintaining a grateful list is that you tend to be good to yourself when you’re aware of all the good things in your life and don’t focus on the have-nots.
Try and write a grateful list every single day. You can start by writing 5 things and gradually increase the number. You’ll be surprised to learn that such a simple step can tremendously improve your quality of life.
6 Benefits Of Maintaining A Grateful List
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1. Promotes Happiness And Well-Being
When you maintain a grateful list, you are thankful for the little things in your life. You count all your blessings and tend to focus on the positive aspects of your life instead of the negative. This, in turn, makes you happy and heightens the feeling of well-being.2
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2. Improves Self-Esteem
You start feeling good about yourself and your life when you put things down in writing. When you see positive experiences written down on paper (or on your computer screen), it boosts your morale. Grateful lists tend to reduce social comparisons, and you stop feeling resentful toward people who are more successful or who have more materialistic things than you. You tend to be at peace with yourself.
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3. Makes You More Resilient
Have you noticed how some people face adverse situations and come out of them stronger than ever? This is because they focus on the positives in a negative situation, adapt to them, and finally get past them. If you feel like nothing is going right in your life, take the time to write a grateful list every day. This will help put things into perspective, make you more resilient, and help you overcome difficult situations.
Studies have shown that being grateful is related to resilience, and gratitude helps you deal with negative stressors.3 Even during the worst times, focus on the things you’re thankful for; this will help you become resilient and overcome adversity.
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4. Improves Sleep
Making a grateful list before going to bed is known to help people sleep longer and better. This is because grateful thoughts are known to improve sleep quality.4 Having positive thoughts before you sleep will make you feel relaxed, reduce your restlessness, and help you drift off into a peaceful slumber.
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5. Improves Health
Being grateful is not just great for your mind; it also does wonders for your health. Studies have proved that gratitude is integral to health and well-being, and people who have the trait of being grateful tend to lead healthier lives.5 Maintaining a grateful list makes you more optimistic than others; this, in turn, tends to give your immune system a boost. Also, studies have found that grateful people tend to exercise more often and take better care of their health.
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6. Makes You Less Materialistic
You’ll be surprised to hear that maintaining a grateful list and feeling grateful can reduce materialistic cravings. Wondering why this is great news? It is because materialistic cravings have been correlated with chronic unhappiness. Research shows that expressing gratitude increases the feeling of contentment, reduces materialistic cravings, and increases psychological well-being.6
Grateful lists remind you to slow down and notice the little and profound things that make your life worthwhile. They improve your state of mind and make you a better person. Getting started and writing one every day takes time and discipline but is definitely worth it.
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