Hello!
I am so glad you are interested in joining the Gratitude Challenge! We will be exercising the act of gratitude daily for 21 days. When you track your actions of Gratitude you will be eligible to win some great prizes. Bonus points awarded for posting on Facebook or Twitter #GratitudeChallenge and inviting your friends to join you. Sign up today to join in the fun!
Blessings,
Rayna
Let's Start A New Habit!
When you sign up to be a part of the Gratitude Challenge you will commit to doing one of the following 3 activities for 21 Days!
3 Blessings Exercise
The 3 Blessings exercise, created by Robert Emmons, where you list the 3 things, big or small, that you consider being a positive experience.
Say “Thank You!”
Say more Thank You’s to people around you. Take the time to write Thank You notes to those in your life who you might not always remember to thank or just be make it a point to offer a verbal Thank You to those you run into in your daily life.
Stop & Smell the Roses
Stop for 30 seconds, take in all the good around you and then offer a prayer of Thanksgiving! Literally stop and smell the beautiful scents of nature around you, whether you are in your kitchen cooking up a quick meal or outside on your way to your car for an errand.
Some interesting facts about how gratitude can change your life:
- The practice of gratitude leads to increasing levels of optimism and other positive emotions, which will eventually help you live a longer and happier life (R. Emmons and Sonja Lyubomirsky).
- The positive emotion of gratitude cancels out negative emotions (R. Emmons).
- Grateful people sleep better (Wong Wing-Sze, et al), have a stronger immune booster (R. Emmons and M. McCullough) and tend to exercise more (R. Emmons).
When you think of gratitude, what do you think of?
Gratitude has two parts, according to Robert Emmons, the world’s leading researcher in the science of gratitude. , explains that gratitude has two parts. According to him, “First it’s an affirmation of goodness.” By seeing the good in life or the world we realize that there are good things, gifts and benefits. Good does exist just as bad does.
Second, he states that gratitude is “a relationship-strengthening emotion because it requires us to see how we’ve been supported and affirmed by other people.” We can miss all that others do for us in the hustle and bustle of life. Taking a moment to pause helps us to see them.
Training your brain to see the good helps it to seek out good in all areas and at all times. It doesn’t make the bad exist but both and good and bad exist wither we see them or not.