Science has proven that being grateful leads to a higher quality of life.
People who express gratitude regularly live longer, are healthier, and also have a lower incidence rate of overweight, obesity, stress, anxiety and chronic disease.
It may seem like an outrageous claim, but the truth is gratitude changed my life. Once I created a habit of being thankful for all that I am and all that I have, I realized how blessed I was. By practicing gratitude, I’m able to continue living in that blessing and seeing all the good that is right in front of my eyes.
There are many benefits to cultivating a grateful heart and purposely seeking the good. To remind you why this is a worthwhile habit to form, these seven benefits are just a few of the many rewards of practicing gratitude every day.
7 Benefits of Practicing Gratitude Every Day
1) Healthy Relationships
Being grateful every day means telling the important people in your life that they matter. This improves your relationships on a daily basis.
2) Stress-Relief
Worrying about what you don’t have is very stressful. When you experience mental and emotional stress, your body releases stress hormones. These impact your body in a negative way, causing physical and emotional health problems. The stress relief you receive from being thankful leads to a healthier body and mind.
3) You Socialize More
Human beings are social animals. We were not intended to live a life of solidarity. People who are not grateful for the gifts in their lives tend to stay away from others. They huddle away in their homes, fostering a negative view on the world. When you appreciate the people and things in your life, you naturally want to socialize more, to reap more grateful benefits.
4) You Sleep Better
The exact scientific and physiological connections between gratitude and better health are not entirely known. That doesn’t mean that positive effects noticed in grateful people can’t be tracked. One benefit scientists and sleep researchers have found in people that express gratitude regularly is healthier sleep patterns. This leads to better mental and physical health in a number of ways.
5) Expressing Gratitude Makes You Happier
Several studies show that keeping a gratitude journal daily can increase your long-term well-being. One study shows that simply writing down the things you are grateful for every day can increase your health and well-being by more than 10%. Those studies showed that happiness level was the same as people who double their income!
6) Gratitude Makes You Likeable
This one is easy to understand. When you tell people they are important to you, that they matter, this makes them feel good. They want to be around you. They will often times repay the gratitude. When you take the time to express how grateful you are for others, rather than leaving it unspoken and assumed, you become a more likable person.
7) Gratefulness Beats Depression
The Positive Psychology Progress study wanted to see how daily gratitude would affect depressed individuals. The results were nothing short of astounding. Keeping a gratitude journal “lowered depressive symptoms by 30+ % for as long as the practice was continued.” When test subjects took the time to make a physical visit to someone and express their gratitude, that single visit “reduced depressive symptoms by 35% for several weeks.”
In my free online course, the Happiness Today 7-Day Transformation Challenge, we talk more about gratitude – how to form a gratitude habit and what to think about when giving thanks. Check it out here and join today to get started on your journey towards being more grateful, and happier.
I want to hear from you!
What benefits have you noticed from being more grateful? Please join the discussion and leave a comment in the comments section below.
Comments 70
God has been so gracious to me. I want to be like Him and do the same for others. That is one of my purposes in life. Thank you so much for this great article
I try to teach this to my kids.. some days it feels like its not getting through though!
I think its important to be grateful,it can really make someones day..
It’s important to remember to be grateful!
thanks for sharing
Thanks for this healthy reminder. Gratitude makes a big difference. Thanks for posting!
This is a great article. So many people take so many things for granted. Each day is a blessing and everyone needs to be grateful and teach their children to not expect things but to be grateful for what they have, what their given, and what they are able to give.
This article is awesome. God blesses me in so many ways and takes care of my every need. I am so thankful for so many things every day of my life. Thank you so much for sharing
True to life… Thanks for sharing
Love this. So need to practice this
I love this! as I try to practice this daily as gratitude is attitude!
Love this! I am really striving to raise grateful kids!
Thank you for sharing. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am.
Thank you for an inspiring article. I try to be thankful every day for what I have, and remind my siblings what all we have to be grateful for. A roof over our heads, food on the table, a job, a car that runs, enough to pay the bills, the love of family. It’s the little things that count, we don’t need a fortune to be happy.
I have been practicing just that , being thankful and knowing how blessed I am each day.
@tisonlyme143
Thank you for the inspirational column! I too, do practice gratitude in my daily life with everything I do & say to all of my family, friends & even co-workers ? Much Love & Big Hugs?❤️?
This is a great inspiring article. Thank you!
Love this post, please keep it going!!
Great article thanks for the tips.
Counting my blessings and being grateful reminds me daily of so much that I have in my life that I would miss if I didn’t, especially my loved ones!! Beautiful post and thank you!!
Thank you for sharing. I am grateful everything that I have or that I get.
informative and helpful posts… thanks a lot for sharing.
I have an Attitude of Gratitude. I just go around being grateful for all the things in my life.
Very beautiful!
I, and all my siblings, have been raised on the concept of always expressing gratitude in situations that call for it, and at least daily to the Lord, but I still suffer from many of the 7 benefits you claim this will relieve…there is just too much negativity in the world around us for the effects to last very long
I am beyond stressed out, I guess I need to work harder at this. I try to be grateful but sometimes it is so hard. I am working on it, these benefits certainly worth it.
this is such a great post. the world is filled with SO much stress, i won’t even watch the news anymore!!!
So gratitude can be such a perfect offset to all that negativity
This is an awesome feature.Thanks for reaching out with these great points and I like your positive look on life. I enjoyed this article.
I appriciate that I ate spaghetti today.
This is such a great reminder of how we need to count our blessings.
I’ve been very depressed at the loss of my mother. I’ll try this – thanks
This is a wonderful post and it shows in your smile that you practice what you preach here! =)
Very good post that all should read and do!
This is all true, I’m a widow and lost one of my children and I learned to have gratitude no matter what your situation,it helps you survive.
We could all learn a lot if we just take the time to consider others, how much they do for us and how much they mean to us, and tell them.
I love your blog on gratitude! It’s amazing how just expressing thanks even in the middle of a stressful event, can lift your spirit. Thank you for your insights!
Thanks for sharing this post on gratitude. I really agree with you and practice some of your tips every morning. I have a friend who is 62 and I am 61. We met when she was 3 and I was 2. She has been living in an assisted living facility for the past several years due to having to have her leg amputated due to her diabetes. She then got a horrible bed sore on her back and had to have surgery to have it debrided. Apparently, they hit her spine during the debridement surgery, so she is now paralyzed from the waist down. She still hasn’t been fitted with a prosthetic leg, but doesn’t plan to now since she will never walk again. She is the most gracious person I know and is grateful for being alive and has such a wonderful and uplifting attitude that affects all those around her. I am going to send her your post.
being “nice” just doesnt affect the person you are being nice to it does show on on you. It shows ” hey someone does care about me” you never know what people are really going through
I have been actively working to practice an “attitude of gratitude” in my own life. At times it is challenging, because are constantly bombarded with images and marketing that tell us we are not good enough, what we have is not good enough and that we need MORE. Especially as women. Thank you for this. Gratitude is something I will continue to focus on in 2017.
This is such a great post topic, thank you so much for sharing this! 🙂 I definitely agree with all of the points you made.
I love this post. I can be a pretty critical person, and sometimes I find myself focusing on all the bad in the world–instead of the good, especially all the things I have to be grateful for It’s a problem I’m trying to overcome, and articles like this make it easier. Thanks for this!
I love these tips. Continue with these great posts!
What great, specific information! I knew that practicing gratitude is great, but you told a lot I didn’t know. Thanks!
they teach this in recovery too. Its an amazing feeling to feel gratitude and to have someone express it to you. I pinned this as a daily reminder 😀
Great post 🙂
This is such a beautiful feature and I enjoyed reading all these great tips.I will try harder to put them into practice. I love the people around me but maybe we don’t tell them enough.
Loved this post and I am going to try to put it into practice.Thank you.
I am grateful for everything. I like your messages.
I love this so much! Definitely an important factor in raising our children.
Thank you for the reminders I enjoyed this article.
We all need to show and be more gracious. This is so true and beautiful!
This was a great read. Thank you. I suffer from seasonal depression and I loved this.
Christmas is the perfect season to reach out to others when laughter and good tidings are in the air. Here’s hoping that your Christmas will find you among family and friends, sharing the spirit of the season.
I love the tips in this article!
I need to get in the habit of practicing gratitude!
Oh yes, practicing gratitude helps in so many ways. Focusing on the positives and not the negatives can make a huge difference. I had a counselor that told me I needed to change my thoughts… I thought..uhh, how?? Practicing gratitude and focusing on all the positives around you … is what she SHOULD have said, but maybe I wasn’t ready to hear it at the time. I just signed up for your 7 day happiness challenge. I’m excited!!
Author
Absolutely agree — gratitude is the fastest way to transform your thoughts and would’ve been the right answer.
So excited that you’re joining the challenge!! ?
I definitely believe gratitude helps with depression. I try to remind myself that when I’m in the slumps.
I try to practice gratitude every day. For all that is bad in my life, I still have so much to be grateful for!
I didn’t know all this but it makes sense. This is a great post and a great reminder.
There are so pure and lovely!
I agree! I have made a point to look at things as “a cup half full” not “half empty” and I find myself smiling and feeling so much better. At times it can be challenging, but I keep good thoughts and things find a way to work out.
Thank you for these gentle reminders. We all need to show and be more gracious. The health benefits alone are so worth it.
I have social anxiety and reading upon this had great tips! Thank you!
I’m not a very social person but I try to do all these things when I do.
Wow! This is a great post!
thank you
great post thank you
So true ! Thank you for this article <3
This is so true and beautiful! ❤ There is not just one benefit for being grateful, I am grateful for everything and we should be that way ?❤