Happiness.

Health.

Healthy relationships.

Turns out, the genie in the bottle is real. And you don’t have to rub an old, dusty relic to have all your wishes granted.  

Gratitude is the attitude that can bring all these things into your life. If study after study is to be believed, gratitude—being thankful, being grateful—is the key to living life to the fullest.   

This holiday season, amidst the hustle and bustle of events and parties, you might find a few more good reasons to be grateful.

Gratitude can lead to happiness and well-being.

Happy people are not happy because they have everything. Happy people are so, because of gratitude, regardless of what they have in life.

In one study, psychologists Dr. Robert Emmons and Dr. Michael McCullough asked participants to write about their week—a few sentences or so. One group was asked to write about the things they are grateful for during the week. Another group was tasked to recall and write about things that irritated or bugged them.

After 10 weeks, the study found that the first group which wrote about the things they are grateful for had better moods, increased optimism, and reduced likelihood of anxiety, depression, or aggression. They have a better sense of well-being.

Focusing on one’s blessings, whatever their number or nature may be, leads to personal well-being—ultimately happiness. 

Gratitude has also been connected to happier and healthier relationships.

Expressing gratitude to one’s partner, for example, has been found to be a potent relationship booster. In one study, couples were asked to express things they are thankful for about their romantic partners. The research found that doing this little thing increased the quality of the relationship (over a 6-month period).

The positive impacts of expressing thanks have been found not just in couples in romantic bonds, but also between friends and family.       

Being thankful has benefits all over the place. Grateful people are the first to find meaning in their work. And that attitude also decreases the impact of job-related stress. Everybody experiences stress at work, but having an attitude of gratitude insulates one from feeling its full force otherwise felt by others.

Gratitude is a friend to an individual’s self-esteem and steels mental strength. Athletes, for example, have found that their self-esteem increased when they practiced gratitude.

Thanksgiving also stems from those unhealthy comparisons that often lead to unhappiness and discontent. Instead of being resentful for not having what other people have, one becomes thankful for what one has in life.

As the little-known saying goes, “Gratitude turns what we have, into enough.”

Gratitude strengthens your immune system.

Gratitude is not just a “feeling” of happiness. It has actual biological effects on how the different cells and systems in our body work. In addition to what has already been mentioned earlier, it can directly impact the different mechanisms of our immune system work. decrease

If stress diminishes our biological defenses, making us susceptible to illnesses and disease, gratitude has an opposite, boosting effect—helping us ward off illness.

Speaking of disease, being thankful and writing about it can literally save your life. A study has found that gratitude journaling improves biomarkers related to heart failure. In short, writing about things you’re grateful for has heart-friendly biological chain reactions that lead to things like reduced inflammation.  

Not only that, grateful people heal faster. Whether it’s from substance abuse, a coronary event, or depression, being grateful allows people to bounce back faster and get on with life.

We’ve already talked in an earlier post about the amazing healing properties of sleep. It is essentially the time the body repairs itself. And if you deem sleep important for good health, then you’ll be happy to know that grateful people sleep better—harvesting all the benefits of quality rest.

Grateful People Are Simply Healthier

On the whole, there is a barrage of benefits to being grateful.

Grateful people are better decision-makers, as it turns out. In terms of delayed gratification, having an attitude of gratitude helps folks make more sound financial decisions.

Being thankful helps you maintain a healthier lifestyle. It can even help you get those repetitions in and help you stick to an exercise routine.     

On a whole lot of metrics, generally, grateful people are simply healthier for it.

There is a long line of studies behind this. An old research, from the 70s, found that “counting your blessings,” even just once a week, can have drastic effects on your blood pressure. (It lowers it!)

All the more gives one more reason to be thankful, does it?

But how does one get into a thankful groove?

Cultivating The Attitude of Gratitude

So how can one master this virtue, make it a daily habit, and unleash that genie in the bottle?

It’s quite easy really, and there are four broad ways of cultivating a lifestyle of gratitude. They come in no particular order. You need to “Write it,” “Say it,” “Think it,” and then, finally, “Give.”  

#1 Write it.

As one of the previous studies has proven, even a weekly journal will so change one’s perspective about life enough to have a positive impact on health.

There’s an old dictum that says, “Count your blessings!” There’s no better way to do this than to put words on paper. Words written on a page crystallize those thoughts and render them for easy reading and review.

You can write things you’re thankful for in paragraph form or as a list. Be sure to be as specific as you can. Go beyond the common things that people generally are thankful about, like “good health,” “food on the table,” etc. Be very specific and very precise about your situation.

Nothing is too small or too silly to make it on your list. If you’re thankful, for example, that your house is just minutes from the place where you work, then write that down. If you’re thankful that you have a dog that adores you and welcomes you with a wagging tail each time you come home, then write that.   

Your list then becomes a personal document of the many things you truly appreciate about your life, and simply reading it some days or weeks later will warm your heart and refocus you on things that you could’ve easily taken for granted.  

#2 Say it.

The American writer Cynthia Ozick once said that “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”

Because nobody makes it in this life alone, there will naturally be persons who deserve to hear our words of gratitude. Saying “Thank you…” (in so many words,) benefits both you and the person who receives the thanks. That personal acknowledgment makes the other person—a partner, a parent, or a friend—feel good and appreciated.

A consequence of this, as mentioned, is a relationship geared to grow stronger and deeper.

“Saying it” can also come in the form of a prayer, where you acknowledge your blessings. In this case, you are verbally declaring it to God and rightfully acknowledging him as the source of all things.     

#3 Think about it.

As it turns out, even thinking about it and feeling thankful is powerful. It’s as simple as putting your hand on your chest, over your heart, and thinking of the many things you are thankful for.

The feeling of gratitude, even without written or said words, can put your mind focused on all that is good in your life, the things that you have, that you may have taken for granted but others might not have.

Being mindful and meditating on the things that are beautiful, positive, and wonderful in your life, is a good practice that will set your mood for the day and help you cope with whatever takes place later.

#4 Give to others.

Generosity is a byproduct of gratitude. You can only truly give when you yourself recognize that you’ve been given.

Practicing generosity is a bigger win for the giver. The old adage rings true, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

It is not just material things that we can pass on to others. We can give a kind word, a pat on the back, a compliment, quality time, or any form of acknowledgment. This Christmas, express your gratitude by being generous of not only your money and resources but also of your time and acts as well.

Finally, remember that we give and are grateful, not only to gain a bunch of health benefits in return. But beyond all those wonderful rewards, we know that it is the decent and the right thing to do.

Merry Christmas from the staff, doctors, and officers of BloodWorks Lab! We are grateful for the confidence and trust you have shown us over the years.

As always, we are your one-stop shop for all your blood test needs, offering lab tests, medical screenings, and check-up packages tailored to your different needs. We are also proud to be the first in the country to offer the Anti Acetylcholine Receptor (lgG) Antibody Test and the Anti N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor (Anti NMDA Receptor) Antibody Test.

Book your appointment today.

Our branches are in Alabang, Katipunan, and Cebu.