November 11

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7 Benefits of Being Grateful and Thankful + My Top 10 List

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What are 7 benefits of being grateful and why is it important? Often, we allow our lives to get caught up in a whirlwind of busyness.  We fall in the web of complaining, and greed; wanting what we don’t have and allowing depression to creep in. Let’s look at the importance of being thankful, the benefits of being thankful and ten things you might be thankful for.       

Melody Beattie expresses the importance of being thankful in her quote:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home. A stranger into a friend.

Melodie Beattie

The Research Shows – 7 Benefits of Being Grateful

Being thankful has been proven in psychological research that it is associated with greater happiness. The benefits of being grateful start with helping people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. 

What are the benefits of being grateful and thankful? According to Amy Morin, a Psychotherapist, there are at least 7 benefits:

  1. Being thankful can open doors to more relationships.  By showing appreciation to others, it helps to win new friends.
  2. Being thankful improves physical health such as experiencing fewer aches and pains. It also makes you more aware of the importance of taking care of your health. For example, thankful people tend to exercise more often and have regular check-ups with their doctors which furthers their longevity.
  3. Being thankful removes toxic emotions such as: envy, resentment, jealousy, anger, criticism, judgmental attitudes, and other negative behaviors.
  4. Being thankful enhances empathy and reduces aggression even when given negative feedback.
  5. Being thankful helps people sleep better and longer through the night.
  6. Being thankful helps to appreciate other people’s accomplishments.
  7. Being thankful helps increase mental strength and it helps to foster resilience during the challenges of life.

Ralph Waldo Emerson expresses his thankfulness by saying:

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Top 10 List – Being Grateful and Thankful

Now let’s look at the ten things that I am thankful for and the importance it has on my life, including the benefits of being grateful, which might be something you’re thankful for too:

Benefits of being grateful
  1.  I’m thankful for being born and the body that I was given. The importance of my birth are the gifts of love, kindness, caring, helping others, having a giving nature which are my pearls that I offer to the world.
  2.  I’m thankful for my family and friends. My family is important to me as they give me support, love, encouragement, laughter, and great conversations over important issues of life.  My friends are another support system.  They are like family, but you get to choose them. Friends are great listeners, they keep you accountable, they make you laugh, and care about your well-being.  They are dependable and keep things confidential. Friends hang in there with you through the years.
  3. I’m thankful for God’s continuous love.  He loved me first even with all my sin, mistakes, and failures.  In John 3:16… it tells us about His great love by sending His only son to pay our penalty for sin by dying on the cross along with suffering pain for us.  The importance of our relationship means everything to me. His awesome faithfulness, love, strength, and his direction in my life’s journey.
  4. I’m thankful for my health, mobility, vision, speech, hearing, and senses.  The importance of each area is beneficially to my quality of life.  Having good health gives me the energy and the strength to be productive and enthusiastic. Experiencing mobility and enjoying moving my limbs, hands, neck muscles, and body parts is something I appreciate each day and it puts a smile on my face.  Being able to see, hear, experience my senses, along with talking makes these vital parts come alive. Enjoying eating, smelling the fragrance of flowers makes for extravagant moments.
  5. I’m thankful for a roof over my head, a warm home, a nice bathroom, drinkable water, and I don’t have to go hungry. These items are basic needs to survive and to enjoy life. I appreciate each one as they help me endure each day with happiness.
  6.  I’m thankful for the small and free pleasure of life for instance, a beautiful sunset, a relaxing walk in the woods or seashore, or an autumn day when the trees are filled with leaves of spectacular colors. The importance of these small things is learning to enjoy the moment and to relax from the hectic pace of the world.
  7. I’m thankful for the careers I’ve had previously before I retired such as being a teacher for over 20 years and a middle school counselor for 17 ½ years.   These careers helped me find my husband, build a good retirement nest egg, support the family finances, and help other people. 
  8. I’m thankful for my pets that have given me protection, love, and lots of laughter through the years.  Pets have been important to me as they put a smile on my face, laughter in my heart and love just when I need it.
  9. I’m thankful for the internet and the resources that it offers, for my cell phone, I-pad, and all the modern technology that we have today. The importance of these items is that it makes my life easier most of the time, helps improve communication with people, and allows me more time to enjoy life without spending my free time doing household chores.
  10. I’m thankful for the kindness of people throughout the day and for the love of my church family.  Kindness helps me by receiving it and then giving it away.  My church family is very supportive of me by their prayers, appreciation, and hugs.  They are amazing & inspiring people.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and have picked up some helpful insights on the importance of being thankful, the benefits of being grateful thankful and examples of my thankfulness. Here is my blog if you want to read more about me and my experiences. If you remember to begin your day with a thankful heart, it will animate your entire day. Try it and watch what happens. And join our community to help support you as you grow in gratitude.

Read more articles by Eulaine Melanson

About the author

Going from teaching to counselling taught Eulaine many rewarding lessons and developed her intuitiveness to be a listener and skilled problem solver. Eulaine loves sharing the Master Keys with others because it has helped her, and will help YOU, follow your heart and enjoy the moment.

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  • Thank YOU Eulaine for sharing so many things to be grateful for! It is so important to be grateful for what we have, especially if we want to improve or change it.

  • You know I love to give you a “bad” time, Eulaine. LOL However. I’m sure you also know how much us Blog Rovers appreciate and are thankful to have you as a key member of our team. Outstanding post! 🙂

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