What Am I Grateful For This Week ...

Another week just breezed by but regretfully I have been slightly indisposed or should I say, 'been under the weather' the whole week.

On Tuesday, I had undergone a colonoscopy as prescribed by my doctor due to intestinal cramping. It was then discovered that I have diverticulitis, an inflammation and infection to one the diverticulum in my intestine. No worry as it is common and treatable with a strong dose of antibiotics. Unfortunately, the antibiotics comes with a range of side-effects which includes fatigue, headaches, giddiness, double-vision and trembling which depleted my energy level to the lowest.

I am glad this is just a temporary situation and I should be up and about soon within the next week. Meanwhile I am grateful that my overall colon is in good health and condition.  According to my doctor, I do not have that many diverticulums in my intestine as with the majority of people but just a little unfortunate to have an infection that's not so common among the majority of people ... duh!!!  I guess it's 'give a little and gain a little' ... cheers!!!

There are recent studies that found the inductions of habitual activities such as 'counting one's blessings' or 'practising gratitude' can successfully raise a person's positive mood and well-being. It had been reported that people who conduct certain gratitude exercises are healthier and feel better about their lives, make more progress towards their goals, are more optimistic and are more likely to help others. Here are some suggestions that could help us increase the level of our gratitude experiences;

1. Pay attention to good things, large and small. This often requires intentional thought because bad things are more salient to us than good things. We have to work a little to give positive thoughts the space in our brains.

2. Pay attention to bad things that are avoided. Just like when I tripped and fell flat on my face during one of my evening runs around the neighborhood. Thankfully, I only suffered minor cuts and bruises without any serious injuries such as broken bones or teeth.

3. Practice downward comparisons. That means thinking about how things could be worse, or were worse, or are worse for someone else. I don’t particularly like the idea of making myself feel more grateful by thinking of others who are worse off than I am. But it doesn’t have to be interpersonal. We can use downward comparison by remembering our own times of adversity or being aware of adversity avoided.

4. Establish regular times to focus on being grateful. Gratitude is a character strength that can be enhanced with practice. So practice.

5. When facing a loss or a difficult task or situation, remind ourself to be grateful both for what we haven’t lost and for the strengths and opportunities that arise from facing difficulties. It had been studied that benefit-seeking and benefit-remembering are linked to psychological and physical health. Benefit finding involves choosing to focus on the positive aspects of the situation and avoiding the feeling of being a victim.

6. Elicit and reinforce gratitude in the people around us. Negative moods are catching, but positive ones can be as well. Sometimes having someone else see what is good in our own life makes it visible to us.

Gratitude is a character strength admired around the globe. To increase gratitude, a good first step is to notice the good things that happen to us, large and small. These practices can help us take fewer blessings for granted.

“Real life isn’t always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.”

~ Sarah Ban Breathnach ~