Believe it or not just making the effort to be grateful each day will make you happier and healthier.
Most of us are stressed out most of the time because we habitually focus on what is not going right, on where we could or should have been at this stage in our lives.
Medical research shows us that 80% of all disease comes from stress.
Just by hanging on to a negative thought or fear we are activating the ‘fight or flight’ response in the body. This fight or flight response activates the ‘sympathetic nerve system’. This system activates the adrenal glands to secret adrenaline. Which increases blood pressure, pulse rate, acid in the stomach, insomnia and a slew of other reactions. Cortisol is released into the blood and this increases inflammation throughout your body and ultimately causes you to gain weight.
So you always have choice. You can take medication to counter all these symptoms caused by stress or you can take some responsibility and create some daily rituals that will reduce the ‘fight or flight’ response in your body which ultimately causes symptoms and disease.
Here is one idea that I have incorporated into my life. Some of these I do every day and some I do less frequently. Think up some ideas of your own, something that fits into your life style and belief system.
Write down in a journal or on a scrap of paper you are going to trash 10 answers to the following questions.
What are you grateful for?
What are you happy about right now? What could you be happy about?
What is going well in your life right now?
Who do you love and who loves you?
What brings you joy? What used to bring you Joy?
Be free and casual , no one is going to read your list. Don’t think about it too much, just start writing. When? How about right now.