Today, while standing in line at the supermarket, I picked up a copy of Prevention Magazine. On the front cover, it had something about discovering joy. I turned to the article, and was glad I did, because it talked about what Ann Voskamp writes about daily: gratitude. Of course, Ann writes about gratitude from the perspective of a Christian. The article was written from the perspectives of research psychologists.
"Advanced gratitude" is the ability to identify and appreciate the bad events in your life because of what you've gained from them. The article mentions the need to establish a "gratitude baseline." Like Ann Voskamp, the researchers recommend keeping a journal of things you are grateful for. It doesn't have to be daily; maybe three times a week, so it doesn't become something you feel bad about forgetting.
The researchers write about the need to retrain our brains. Our brains are on the lookout for trouble to avoid. We want to retrain our brains to bask in warm feelings of gratitude. That means practicing gratitude with considerable emotional intensity, lasting a while.
Lastly, the researchers recommend we remember the hard stuff. Compare the blessings of today with the sad or difficult times of loss or trauma we have experienced. The contrast provides a fertile ground for gratitude to develop.
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