Weekly motivation week 10 - Gratitude

Being grateful has received a lot of noise lately. It's a buzzword that is not likely to leave us soon. Gratitude has been touted as a way to escape the negatives of the consumer-driven world we live in. But, unlike the wheat grass fad, it will hopefully stick around. Based on positive psychology, gratitude has been proven to increase not only our happiness but our well-being.  

The act of acknowledging what are you grateful for and showing an appreciation for those things leads to greater satisfaction with life. People who show gratitude are generally better at controlling their life - they know what makes them happy and they tend to seek that out. Showing gratitude has been proven to help people avoid stressful situations. Furthermore, grateful people are more likely to be able to cope with stress when it does occur. Because gratitude reduces negative thinking, people who practice this technique have stronger mental health and lower rates of depression.

While grateful thoughts are good, it has been proven that writing about what you are grateful for has even greater benefits.

Keep in mind that someone is happy with a lot less than you have. 

What are you grateful for right now? What is going right in your life? What are you thankful for? Looking back in time, what are you grateful for in the past?