Blog
blog image

Sun 14 August 2022

The Power of Gratitude

I work in mental health and whilst I don't have a diagnosis myself, I'm thoroughly conscious of the impact of vicarious trauma, the importance of looking after my own mental health as well as modelling what I teach others to do.

 

Gratitude has always been one such practice that has eluded me for many years, though I use it with my clients on a regular basis. The science behind gratitude is strong; many studies have shown that people who practice being grateful show significantly higher levels of happiness and psychological well-being. Others have shown that people are less depressed, less anxious, less stressed, have higher self-esteem and even have better relationships. And we can get this with just two consecutive weeks of daily gratitude practice. Yep, 2 weeks! Again, studies have shown that this effect can last for up to six months. Its clear gratitude is a huge psychological supporter. Importantly these studies have been replicated in individuals with a clinical diagnosis as well as in those without. Simply put, gratitude works for all of us. 

 

A lot of people get lost with gratitude practice because they believe it’s about pretending the world is all sunshine and rainbows. That’s actually not what it’s about.  Practicing gratitude does not mean pretending everything is fine or being in denial about what is going wrong or what needs improving, cultivating gratitude means choosing to focus your time and attention on what you appreciate, not what frustrates you or makes you angry.

 

I KNOW all this, but I have never managed to make a gratitude practice stick in my own life, and I've tried it in a multitude of different ways; gratitude journals, I've spent hundreds of dollars on these and used them twice! I thought it must be about getting the perfect journal. I’ve written loads of Gratitude lists, simple enough, I even tried gratitude mindfulness, but none of it really resonated with me. I could literally write down a hundred things I was grateful for in the day, but it wouldn't really mean anything to me. I never connected with it.

 

However, in doing some research I came across a gratitude photography group. People had to commit to taking a photo everyday of something they were grateful for and posting it in this online group. I’ll be honest, I never joined the group, I never posted one photo within the group, but the idea did resonate with me. I started my gratitude practice with 7 photos in 7 days. It has changed my world! What I realised is now I spend my days looking for those couple of really special moments that I want to take a photo of. I drive a lot; it also means I have to stop the car and appreciate that sunrise or sunset or view. And it doesn't have to be big things, a flower, my dog, my kids, the clouds, the gym I attend and so forth. It’s not the thing or the photo, it’s the consciousness of the practice that’s really helped me. I am certainly no photographer, but hopefully, that's a skill I'm also improving!

 

Also, physically taking a photo of that moment is so much more powerful (to me) than simply writing it down. This also means I can keep it, and I have a visual reminder of all the little things that make my days better.  My 7 photos in 7 days Challenge ended in a 7 days of Gratitude photo collage. I repeated the practice and repeated the practice and I plan on making it all into a photo collage of 365 days of Gratefulness. I'm not going to lie, there are days that are pretty special, and I can easily take more than one photo, I just choose my favourite from that day. But the real key is to make sure you absolutely DO take the photo on the day that wasn’t so amazing. Every day has so much to offer, you just need to start looking.

 

Consciously and continually searching for the good in each day, makes me focus differently. I still get frustrated and angry and sad, and all the other human emotions, but Gratitude Photography has certainly reduced the focus on the negatives as well as enabling me to turn a bad day around pretty quickly.

 

So, finally I have a gratitude practice that I connect with, and I am reaping all the benefits that science has told me about for many years! I may be a slow learner, but I got there in the end!

 

My advice to everyone is find a gratitude practice you can connect with and hold yourself to it.  It really does work!