It might not be there for long

Upon having a conversation with a friend I found something that was a little worrying: When we were talking he began to complain about everything and talk about all the people he disliked, thing which I found a little bit disturbing so I called him out and told him to be grateful for the things he had, advice that he ignored and kept ranting. When we finished our conversation I felt like for those 30 minutes I was talking to deaf ears while being blasted with negativity, so I began to think of all the times we talked in order to search for something positive. However, after much thought I realized one thing, that for the previous 2 years I don't remember any encouraging conversation or positive interaction with that particular person, so I tried to figure out If he was going through something. What I found out was that all that time he has been underslept and studying/working till late hours at night, thing which might be understandable to a certain extent, though the main problem wasn't that as I've known him since we were kids and that pattern was recurrent. What really has been affecting him all this time was a lack of gratitude, where he always has choosen to look at the bad side of things and talk about the bad, decision that is hurting him badly. What's worse is that 4 years before I was exactly like that, having a negative outlook about the world and hating my loved ones, taking for granted the fact that they were making a lot of sacrifices for me and that they were always rooting for me. That's why in this article I will talk about something that even If It has been mentioned a lot before in my posts, It needs to be reinstated, that being the importance of gratefulness, talking about Its effects and what It can do for you when It comes to your attitude and your mental health, all so you can improve the inside before you change your outside world.

The effects of gratefulness

First, to understand the full effect of what gratefulness can do we have to know what It truly is, It being the thankful appreciation of what we receive, whether tangible or intangible, in the past or in the present. For example, you can be as grateful when someone gives you a gift today as 2 years later. Gratitude can be associated with higher indexes of happiness and positive emotion, better health, relationships and even more resilience when faced with adverse situations.

To look for proof of these benefits, we can take a look at a study realized by two psychologists: Dr.Robert A. Emmons and Dr.Michael E. McCullough where they separated all the participants in three groups and asked them to write a few sentences each week. The first group was asked to write about things that occurred to them in the week that they felt grateful for, the second group was suggested to write about things that irritated them in the same week and the third group to write about things that happened to them without an emphasis on being positive or negative. At the end of these studies, they realized that those that wrote about the things they felt grateful for were much more optimistic and had a better enjoyment of their lives.

Even a few words of appreciation can work wonders in our levels of optimism. When we say thank you or write letters acknowledging what other people did for us we have a double effect, we make them feel better about themselves and at the same time we do too, as we feel much more happy with the act of giving, even If they are just a few words.

In the final part of this article I leave you with a big Thanks to all of you who have read my articles over the last few months, sometimes commenting and giving me your beautiful perspective over a different amount of topics, I sincerely hope all the best for you and that I can keep bringing you this content in the next year. Thank you for your support and good luck!