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« Back to All Daily Grace

Gratitude balances us

5.2.2021
|
Daily Grace

The idea that practicing gratitude increases overall happiness has been a mainstream concept for years. Long-term studies support gratitude’s effectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, better health, peak performance in sports and business, a higher sense of well-being, and a faster recovery rate from surgery.

But while we may acknowledge gratitude’s many benefits, it still can be challenging to sustain. We often notice what is broken, undone, or lacking in our lives. For gratitude to meet its full healing potential, it needs to become more than just a Thanksgiving word. We have to learn a new way of looking at things, a new habit. Gratitude isn’t a blindly optimistic approach in which the bad things in life are whitewashed or ignored. It’s more a matter of where we put our focus and attention. Gratitude balances us and gives us hope.

Keep a gratitude journal and list things for which you are thankful. You can make daily, weekly, or monthly lists. We can pretend to be grateful, even if the underlying emotion right now is fear, or anger, or anxiety, or depression.

This message is an excerpt from a Women of the ELCA blog by Kathryn Haueisen. Today is the fifth Sunday of Easter. We remember Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, who died in 373.

Do you enjoy these free Daily Grace messages? If so, donate now to further the ministry. Use the “where needed most” line. Subscribe to Gather magazine for full articles excerpted in Daily Grace.

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Women of the ELCA
23 May
Women of the ELCA
@WomenoftheELCA

Today's blogger shares a call story -- a call with its roots in a triennial gathering -- a call that led to starting a quilting ministry -- a call that shows the age-old truth that God equips those who are called. #WeAreWELCA #ActBoldly womenoftheelca.org/blog/post/…

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