Gratitude: Negative Nancy to Positive Peggy

Gratitude:

Negative Nancy to Positive Peggy

By: Jill

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, what better time to reflect on all that we should be grateful for? A few weeks ago our guest blogger, Jes Lyn, wrote about how much practicing gratitude can change one’s mindset. I have to be honest, I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind! If you need a refresher, check out our most recent wonder woman article “Messy to Mindset Master” to learn more about her story.

Upon further investigation, practicing gratitude benefits not only our mental health and emotional intelligence, but also our physical health! (Whaaaaaat. . .??) According to a study published in the journal, Personality and Individual Differences, those who practice gratitude are more likely to work out, eat healthier, see their doctor and most importantly sleep better! However, how you practice gratitude is important because we don’t want to cut corners when looking for the good things that happen in our lives.

Let me tell you how I am changing my tune from a negative Nancy to a positive Peggy:

the-boudoir-studio-christmas-special-041.jpg

best-rochester-boudoir-photography-043.jpg

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1574087806430_66927 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -7px; }#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1574087806430_66927 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 7px; margin-bottom: 7px; }

Misgiving Gratitude

I came upon really practicing gratitude in college. I needed a 5th class for my semester which was overwhelming as it was and I scoured the class availability list looking for something easy. There it was, “Health & Wellness -Stress Management.” In all reality, everyone could use a little stress management in their lives so without skipping a beat, I chuckled and signed up for the class. Our very first week we needed to start a gratitude journal: 5 entries a week, we could list however many things we were grateful for and write a reflection from that day underneath. I had started a really good habit where I would do my homework every night starting with the most difficult assignment and finishing with the easiest assignments. I always ended up writing in my gratitude journal in the dead of night when I was completely brain-fried:

1. I’m thankful for my husband.

2. I’m thankful for my daughter.

3. I’m thankful for my health.

4. I’m thankful for my home.

5. I’m thankful that my homework is done.

Here is the tricky part of a gratitude journal… you shouldn’t be repeating yourself every day. I am sure that if I were to ask you to come up with 5 things to be grateful for my answers 1-4 would be pretty similar. We are all thankful for our family (hopefully) and health. Imagine, day 2 of my gratitude journal, past midnight, here I am exhausted, trying to find five things I was grateful for. Remember, my professor didn’t tell us that we needed 5 things; however, I was embarrassed that I could not come up with 5 things to be grateful for on day 2. Am I really that negative? I can easily come up with 5 things that didn’t go “right” that day… here is what I finally pulled out of that day:

1. I’m thankful for the nice weather today.

2. I’m thankful I had coffee today.

3. I’m thankful my husband put my daughter to bed tonight.

4. I’m thankful my husband is great at math so he can teach me how to do my STATS homework.

5. I’m thankful I can take classes online so I can be home with my daughter.

best-rochester-boudoir-photography-055.jpg

sexy-boudoir-photos-near-me-072.jpg

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1574087806430_90026 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -7px; }#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1574087806430_90026 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 7px; margin-bottom: 7px; }

Finding Joy

When I was interviewing Jes Lyn from our previous Wonder Woman article, she told us, “when we start really implementing an actual gratitude practice, and we start really focusing on the little things in our lives, the things that we do have, instead of what we don’t have. . . that is when we start to attract better things into our lives. For example, when I find a penny on the floor, I treat that penny like I just found a million dollars.” Around week 3 of my gratitude journal, I found a remarkable shift in my own mindset. I was trying to find things to be grateful for every. single. day. I would make mental notes that I could use for my gratitude journal and I could very easily come up with 5 things to be grateful for. They were small acts of kindness:

1. I’m thankful for the stranger who gave me their cart with the quarter in it at Aldi’s today.

2. I’m thankful for the compliment that I received on the blog post I published today.

3. I’m thankful that my daughter went down for her nap without a meltdown today.

4. I’m thankful that my mom called to check in for no reason today.

5. I’m thankful that my husband washed the dishes after dinner tonight.

During one of my reflections for my class on gratitude, I also noticed that I was becoming an overall better person. I was subconsciously performing more small acts of kindness for strangers, friends, and family. Maybe I was giving them more ammunition for their gratitude journals or maybe I was seeing so much more positivity in the world that I wanted to contribute more too! Either way, I was passing out compliments more, feeling happier, sleeping better and ready to find the good in each day. I became a Positive Peggy!

best-boudoir-photographer-near-me-082.jpg

fairport-ny-boudoir-photography-039.jpg

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1574087806430_97640 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -7px; }#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1574087806430_97640 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 7px; margin-bottom: 7px; }

Putting Gratitude to the Test

I am a fond believer that everything happens for a reason. The good and bad that happens in our lives is part of who we are and what we will become. I took on this Health & Wellness -Stress Management class as kind of a cruel joke to add to my already overwhelming college schedule but little did I know how much I really needed it. 6 weeks into the semester, I had a miscarriage. On that night, I had written an entry into my gratitude journal. How could I possibly find 5 things to be grateful for on such a horrible day. I wanted to quit school, I wanted to run away from life, and I wanted to wake up from this hellish nightmare of a day. Somewhere, deep down, I also knew that if there was any day to manage my stress and find some good from the day it was today:

1. I’m thankful for my support system.

2. I’m thankful that it was still very early on in pregnancy when this happened.

3. I’m thankful to be healthy enough to try for another baby again.

4. I’m thankful for working at The Boudoir Studio to keep me busy.

5. I’m thankful for school to keep me busy.

It is no secret that some people dread the holiday season while others live for the holiday season. No matter which side you are on it’s important to our mental health to always look for the positives every day. To genuinely practice gratitude has the ability to change your entire attitude even on the worst of days. Thompson, the cognitive scientist, says experiments have shown that people who partake in the “three good things” exercise — which, as the name suggests, prompts people to think of three good moments or things that happened that day — see considerable improvements in depression and overall happiness, sometimes in as little as a couple of weeks. “If there were a drug that did that, whoever patented that drug would be rich,” Thompson says. “Gratitude is very powerful.” (Ducharme, TIME Magazine). We hope that you not only consider the obvious things that you are grateful for this year but also the small things. Recognizing the small things add up quickly and can improve your mental and physical health!