Thanksgiving, Gratitude, Mental Health
I am not always one to write things that some may consider cliche. But this year, I decided to take a gamble, and write about things like the combination of being thankful, gratitude, during the holiday season. Gratitude can make us richer than paper cash can. We all love cash, but if we can’t dig deep and find some gratitude, it can risk our quality of life.
In mental health and addiction, being thankful, and grateful for thing sincere, and whole, can be the difference maker in whether we can find, or hang on to success in treatment.
I read in Psychology Today magazine about proven benefits that gratitude can give us. It all made so much sense, and there wasn’t one word I had disagreed with.
One point that they say is that “gratitude can open doors for relationships.” When I compare that theory to my own life, and what happens to me in recovery, I see some things I hadn’t noticed or paid much attention to before.
For me, it hasn’t been about having an influx of all these new relationships and friendships. And the last thing I want is a romantic relationship. But there are doors that affect me. Those are the doors that open wide for healthy new relationships. People that are supportive of the way I’m trying to live. Then the other doors are the ones that slam fast, loud and tight, to all the disgraceful, unhealthy relationship that cling to people in the world of addiction.
Gratitude can be a great tool that can come to be a factor in improving health. Gratitude can be a way that helps us let go of stress, and unnecessary drama. It can get us focused in all of life’s ways. With that, can come a better ability to eat right, exercise, and be able to know just how incredibly powerful good health can be to mental health.
With that, comes what should seem quite obvious, in the fact that gratitude is powerful for improving mental, and psychological health. For myself, gratitude when it’s sincere, can have this relief like effect on me, and it seems to generate more strength for an inner peace. All things, that I could never totally feel or reach if I was not content and grateful.
Another area of improvement that we can see is self esteem. Going further and more detailed than simply “I have gratitude, I feel better, therefore self esteem improves. The way it improves the self esteem comes at a more detailed route.
It’s been studied and reported by Psychology Today that gratitude “ reduces social comparisons.” Therefore, we tend to turn away from comparing with resentments or jealousy. People who are thankful and grateful are more apt to have an appreciation for the success of others. All of this in which, contributing to an improving, and more solid self esteem.
So, this all makes for an appropriate discussion as we travel into the holiday season. Many have said that this time can be the most rough for the mentally ill and addicted. Though statistics may prove so, that does not mean we have to just allow that fact to remain. As we see, gratitude can be quite the gift as we continue to improve ourselves, as we move forward through life.
It can be difficult to have a clear vision of what we can be grateful and thankful for. Myself for one, when it seems hard for me, I stop and realize that I’m alive, and I have lived through experiences that not everyone was blessed enough to survive.
Today, I am thankful for my gratitude. And thankful that faith continues to show itself. Having a mentally healthy and sober Thanksgiving and Christmas has a value that is never less than priceless.
