Gratitude

Many people are feeling the affects of the one year anniversary of the Covid 19 pandemic. It has been a long year filled with lock downs, constant changes, stress, fear and grief. If you’re feeling this way, you’re not alone but there is one aspect of the pandemic that can make you feel better – Gratitude Gratitude boost happiness, cultivates positive emotions, mindfulness and improves our overall health. Gratitude is a way for people to become self-aware of all the blessings in their life. It helps you appreciate everything you have.  9 Ways to Cultivate Gratitude 1. Every night before you go to bed ask yourself: What are 2-3 things you are grateful for that happened today? 2. Send a thank you letter expressing your appreciation. You can write, text or email but in person is still the best. 3. Gratitude Journal – keep a daily journal of all the things you are grateful for. Add to it daily. This will help you to see the big picture. 4. Prayer is another way to cultivate gratitude. 5. See the silver lining in every situation. It might be tough but if you put the effort in, you can see the good in a bad situation even if its the lesson, resiliency or growth. 6. Look back at your life and see all the tough times you have gone through and thrived from. Look how far you have come and feel proud of yourself. This exercise will help you feel the positive emotion of pride. We will make it through this pandemic too! 7. When you’re feeling down, the best way to feel better is to help others. It takes you outside of yourself and your problems. When the focus is off yourself, you start to feel better. When you help others, you help yourself. 8. Nature – spending time outdoors in nature exposes to you all the beauty around you but don’t pay attention to. Take some time to unplug from technology and enjoy your surroundings. You will feel the positive emotions of awe and wonderment. Nature cultivates mindfulness. Mindfulness reduces stress, calms, lowers blood pressure and reduce chronic pain. 9. Just say thank you to someone everyday. In the working world, we tend to be so busy that we just don’t stop to say thank you to other employees. This simple gesture can motivate an employee to be more productive and to feel appreciated.

Webinars: Staying Positive during Trying Times Free Zoom WebinarWednesday, March 10th,2pmSecaucus Public Library, NJ Register for free at either:dlcounseling2014@gmail.com orwww.secaucuslibrary.org Thursday, March 11th, 630pm – Positive Aging Zoom Princeton Adult School, NJ Register at 609-683-1101 or princetonadultschool.org For more information, please visit: www.dlcounseling.com