A Little Gratitude Goes a Long Way

This time of year, just thinking about all the holiday responsibilities you have to manage on top of an already packed work schedule (including the extra veterinary emergencies that come along with the season) can snowball into increased levels of stress and anxiety. Taking the time to consider what you’re thankful for can help reduce that pressure and even help make you feel happier.

Gratitude is the state of being grateful. But gratitude is more than simply feeling thankful; it also involves a sense of happiness. A complex emotion, gratitude can be evoked when we experience something good in our lives, express appreciation to or for another individual, or receive appreciation from someone else.

You’ve probably heard about “3 good things,” a gratitude exercise where, each night for 1 week, you’re encouraged to write 3 things that went well during your day.¹ This psychology technique is intended to help counteract our brain’s typical tactic of focusing on the negative. Paying attention to positive encounters and good things that happen during a day (as well as why they happened or how you helped contribute to them) can enhance wellbeing and increase happiness after just 1 week—changes that can last for 6 months.¹

Another method, the gratitude visit, can help boost levels of happiness even more, potentially for up to a month.¹ To try this method, you write and deliver a letter to a person who has shown kindness to you or made a positive difference in your life. The letter recipient can be someone you feel that you’ve never properly thanked, but you can also express gratitude to anyone who matters to you or a person who has helped you out over the years.

If you can, hand-deliver the letter. However, if you won’t see your intended recipient over the holidays, you can always call them on the phone to share your gratitude, or mail or email your letter instead. The act of writing the letter alone can help you feel gratitude, and recipients often get a happiness boost as well. Try not to worry over exactly what to write; the warmth of the gesture is often enough to make recipients feel good.

The happiness effect has been shown to continue for those who keep up with these gratitude exercises.^1-3 So instead of just writing a single letter, maybe you want to write to several people. Or if you enjoy journaling, you could end every day by writing down 3 good things that happened that day.

Practicing gratitude doesn’t have to be complicated, though. If writing a letter to someone or trying to come up with 3 good things for even a week seems like too much work, here are some other ideas:

• Keep a gratitude journal or notebook. Jotting down just 1 thing that made you feel grateful during your day or something you noticed that gave you a sense of awe or happiness can help you focus on the positive. Don’t feel like you have to do this every day, but when you recognize a good moment, hold it close and write it down.

• Reflect on the recent past. Pause during a busy day (or in the evening) to think about what you appreciate or something positive that’s happened during the past month or year.

• Send a note. If while reading this article, you’ve thought about a person you’re grateful to have in your life, let them know by texting or emailing a short message. You can simply wish them happy holidays or shoot off a quick “Just wanted to let you know I’m thinking about you” note—whatever feels right in the moment.

• Light a candle (or turn on an electric one). Then spend a few minutes watching the flame and enjoying the stillness. When you blow out (or turn off) the candle, you can also think of an intention, such as “I will prioritize my mental wellbeing this holiday season,” or repeat a mantra, like “I am grateful” or “I am deserving of good things.”

• Really thank the people who help you. Let your postal worker or trash collection team know that you appreciate them by stopping to say “thank you” when you see them or leaving them a handwritten note. Thank your CSRs for making those reminder calls, your veterinary assistants for keeping the clinic clean, and your veterinary technicians/nurses for putting in extra work on a particularly tough case or for showing compassion to clients. By showing sincere appreciation—not just saying “thank you” automatically—you’ll not only help yourself feel gratitude but also bring some happiness into other people’s lives this holiday season.

References

1. Seligman ME, Steen TA, Park N, Peterson C. Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. Am Psychol. 2005;60(5):410-421.

2. Gander F, Proyer RT, Ruch W, Wyss T. Strength-based positive interventions: further evidence for their potential in enhancing well-being and alleviating depression. J Happiness Stud. 2013;14(4):1241-1259.

3. Mongrain M, Anselmo-Matthews T. Do positive psychology exercises work? A replication of Seligman et al. (2005). J Clin Psychol. 2012;68(4):382-389.