Finding Silver Lining(s) in the Dark Ages
- Sharanya Shenoy
- Sep 13, 2020
- 3 min read
2020 has been quite an eventful year!Well by eventful I specifically mean life-altering world-changing scenarios. From the Australian Bush fires in January to climate change turning Antarctica green, From COVID global pandemic to locust attacks on many continents, the year 2020 has been quite exhausting with one bad news over the other.
With the ongoing pandemic still raging, it has not only taken a toll on people's physical health but mental and psychological as well.
According to an article published by the New England Journal of Medicine it revealed numerous emotional outcomes, including stress, depression, irritability, insomnia, fear, confusion, anger, frustration, boredom, and stigma associated with quarantine, some of which persisted after the quarantine was lifted. Indeed the future seemed to hold nothing but uncertainty, and then 3 more months left it feels like a century away!
Over the years it has been proved that a happy mind is the main reason for a healthy body. The happiness, the joy that comes from all the many little moments in your daily life - that's Gratitude.
Why don't you try this, think of 5 things you are grateful for? If not 5, how about 3? Finding it a little hard, isn't it?I know that It’s easy to be ungrateful these days, Does that mean we stop being grateful? Martin Luther King once said, “Only in the darkness can you see the stars”.
Gratitude is simply taking time to think about all the little things that make you happy.Think of all the things that we take for granted in our life - be it the roof over our heads, the food on our plates, or perhaps the clothes we wear. It may be necessary to survive, but for many people in the world, that seems like a luxury.
I know , some things are easier said than done . So to test this theory, I decided to try it out myself. Every night before I went to bed I sit down in a calm spot and take the time to write out my at least 5 things on my gratitude list. I admit that the initial days were a little difficult for me to think of 5 things to be grateful for, rather I had 10 things to crib and be annoyed about !!
Slowly over fortnight of following this routine, the flow of writing came quite naturally. I realize just how much I have to be grateful for. Two weeks into the habit of writing, I understood how much of a difference this one-minute exercise made.Though it was something small or even something silly, the emotions of gratitude felt during that moment causes a rippling effect which eventually triggers a grateful mood. It indeed did help me sleep better than before.
It is said that when one is truly grateful, you develop a sense of inner belief that gives a certain peace of mind. They say smiling while feeling low is enough to trick the mind into happiness. Though that may be a temporary solution, imagine the impact on your mind when you feed it a little dose of positivity daily!
Everyone in life has far greater blessings than they have troubles. Its all about shifting your perspective - getting your mind from thinking about what is missing in your life to being grateful and happy about what you already have.
By changing our habits, we can become more thankful human beings.Here are a few benefits of gratitude journaling
When you start feeling good , it makes us genuinely happy! You start doing good simply because it makes you feel good about yourself. You become less materialistic, reduces feeling of envy and learn to appreciate the little things in life .Gratitude is happiness in itself!
Gratitude improves our optimism.
This in turn makes you more confident to face your fears thereby boosting your self esteem.
Gratitude reminds you to be compassionate , empathize and understand people better which eventually allows you to strengthen your relationships as well.
Positive emotion improves health. Being grateful is said reduce bad health symptoms, like blood pressure, sugar, obesity, insomnia ,depression anxiety and many more .
In fact those who practice gratitude on a regular basis have fewer visits to doctor ,feel less pain and are more likely to recover from illness due to reduced dependency on medicines.
Overall what I want to convey is that having a sense of gratitude leads to better quality of life. Eventually over time we start having better perspective towards life which will positively affect your life - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey
Reference:
Image credits :
Comments