I heard something on public radio last week which you might find interesting. The discussion was about expressing gratitude and how it can sometimes be difficult to list all the things we're grateful for.
For some time now, we've been encouraged to keep a gratitude journal of some sort, where we should list all the things we're grateful for. We're told to do it daily. I don't know about you, but I always have a difficult time keeping up this sort of thing. It becomes tedious and repetitious, and I tend to stop after a few days because I'm listing the same basic things over and over.
When you practice reverse gratitude, you look at your particular situation at any given moment, and your thinking goes something like: "At least I still have a job." or "At least my car is paid for." or "At least we have a roof over our heads and enough to eat." or "At least I have comfortable shoes that keep my feet warm and dry." You get the idea, right?
(Or it's like last year, when I took the photo of the roses which I posted above. I looked at the garden I had so lovingly planted and tended, only to see that deer and rabbits and birds had enjoyed feasting on most of my beautiful flowers and herbs. I looked around and thought, "At least the little bastards didn't eat these roses!" :0) . . . )
You are comparing your situation to one which is worse, and are grateful for having more than some who are less fortunate. It's the concept that no matter what you encounter in life, it could always be worse. You learn to become truly grateful for the most basic things.
With reverse gratitude, you think about things in a slightly different way, but the health benefits, both physical and psychological, have been shown to be just as positive as for someone who is successful at keeping a gratitude journal.So if you have a difficult time keeping a written gratitude journal on a daily basis, this type of thinking can help keep your body, mind and spirit healthier than it would be otherwise. The power of the mind is amazing, isn't it?
