Attitude of Gratitude

Before you start to crib about anything, pause for a moment and reflect on what all you have. Is it something you always had? Is it something you even asked for? Is it something everyone has? Is it something you got without asking? Is it what someone else is praying for?

When we whine, we take it to levels that are harmful to both our mental and physical health. We feel demotivated to do anything. We feel sad. In such a state of sadness, there’s no way you can operate normally or feel good about life leave alone being grateful.

We should always be grateful for everything we have. Do not do this to follow the books and internet quotes that lure you to get ten-folds of everything. Do this because this is an instant magical solution to boost your happy hormones and become happy.

When we quickly shift our focus from the negative situations to positive ones, the feel-good hormones in our body increase. This helps us to feel lighter and happier.

What are these feel-good hormones?

There are four types of feel-good hormones :

1.     Dopamine (reward chemical) – Do something that gives you a sense of accomplishment. Listen to music,  set small, achievable goals and go achieve them. Try something new. For instance, doing sudoku, creating art or learning a new sport. When you accomplish something, it gives off a rewarding feeling. It releases the hormone called dopamine. Naturally, this rewarding feeling is going to make you thank someone or for that matter your own self. This paves way for gratitude.

2.     Serotonin (mood stabilizer) – The best way to do that is go outside and get some sunlight. Meditate often. No one needs to become a yogi to release serotonins. Meditate for a short time everyday. Be consistent. And don’t forget to eat healthy. Another way to boost your serotonins.

Unless you feel good about yourself, there’s no way you’re going to feel thankful for the life or for that matter, the life you got.

3.   Oxytocin (love hormone) – How do you feel when you hug a baby? There’s an instant feeling of warmth within you. It is the release of oxytocin. Being affectionate or being treated with affection, both lift moods with a release of oxytocin. Hug your children quite often. Or get a good massage. The feeling of love, warmth and affection makes us happy. When we’re happy, it is much easier to practice gratitude.

4.    Endorphins (pain-reliever) – Endorphins shoot up when we exercise, laugh, do yoga or meditate. Grab a bite of dark chocolate to boost it as well.

In order to be grateful, you first need to be happy from inside. And it goes the other way round too. No sulking soul has ever felt grateful, infact it is the opposite. That person, instead of feeling grateful, the person would find ways to blame other people and then eventually destiny.

Deficiency of DOSE (Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, Endorphins) and how does it affect you –

1.     Procrastination

2.     Low self-esteem/energy/fatigue

3.     Lack of motivation

4.     Feeling lonely, stressed, disconnected in relationships

5.     Insomnia

6.     Social phobia

7.     Aches and pains, depression and anxiety.

Fact is no one’s going to come and give you a “dose” of DOSE. You’re your own dose. And you know how much dosage you need.

What is the meaning of gratitude in the first place?

It is a conscious effort to count one’s blessings.

Ways to be grateful :

1.     Journal

2.     Write or think 3 good things that went well which could have gone wrong

3.     Write thank you notes

The best and the most instant way to feel grateful is to know the bitter truth that we as humans are not “entitled” to some things. To start with, let’s talk about nature : air, water and the land we’ve got to live on.

Gratitude is a practice. We need to feel grateful for some things for a longer while which otherwise we would have moved on from very quickly. Things can seduce us into comparing what we have to what other people have. When we tend to count our good experiences, we shift our focus to our personal circumstances.

From ancient times, human beings have been wired to see threats around us. So, gratitude comes with constant practice. Consistency is key.

Rick Hanson is the father of the theory of gratitude. He suggests to hold to good situations and the complementary feeling of gratitude for at least 20 seconds. And the basic way to do it is to practice gratitude for 21 days and if a situation arises where you do not see any reason to be grateful, try widening your spectrum and look at things in the bigger picture.

The attitude of gratitude is never going to disappoint anyone. Just need to take the right “DOSE” (Dopamine, Oxytocin,etc.)!