Intentional gratitude practices can make a huge impact on our mental and physical health. Have you ever tried something like this? Perhaps keeping a short gratitude journal, or rehearsing moments of gratitude in your own mind before going to bed? Perhaps sharing your gratitude with another person?
A study designed by Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman, psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, invited 411 people to deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who they had never thanked for their kindness, and participants exhibited such a large increase in the study’s happiness scores that the boost of that benefit could be noticeably measured for a month.
The study didn’t measure the happiness score of the person who received the letter, but I wonder how its impacts may have lingered meaningfully as well.
If we lead with gratitude, there are benefits for ourselves and those around us.
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 