I find the number of serious scientific studies that have been completed on the relationship between gratitude and positive mental health to be very validating of a deeply held belief of mine. If you want the short version: expressing gratitude has a positive effect on mental health. A longer version, and a list of other studies that this set of authors used can be found here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10393216/#B3 On the NIH website. 

If you are interested you can quickly take for yourself the Gratitude, Resentment and Appreciation test https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/Gratitude_Resentment_and_Appreciation_Scale.pdf.

Basically, my theory is that: What you are looking for most, you will find. “I Spy with my little eye something…”   So choose what you look for carefully, for you shall find it everywhere.

What can you see, hear, smell, touch, taste, or know about that makes you pause and be glad to be experiencing it? The more you look for things that make you feel grateful the more things you experience that allow you to feel gratitude the more content you will feel about your life, and your place in it. 

One of the keys to feeling the shifts is to note the things that you are grateful for. Stop on the sidewalk and admire the violet coming up in the grass.  Go ahead and feel amazed at it’s growing there, experience how complicated it is, and could you have come up with something similar sitting in your room with all the paper in the world available to you if you didn’t know about this one beautiful little flower? 

What if a more complicated feeling arises? Say you are enjoying a walk and an unexpected flower and someone is mowing the lawn and you are irritated by the mower noise? Try and redirect your feelings to “hey look at the grass growing, look at the industry of that person so busily getting things done in their day.” This can erase the feelings of irritation as you actively and purposefully look for something to feel grateful for. 

An offering is a gift.  What sort of contribution can you make to a world that has left plenty of gifts on your own doorstep? The most simple one is the magic of your attention and your presence. Noticing magic, is magic in itself. Speaking your gratitude or pleasure is another. Finally there is an actual gift, that can be made, as simple as a drop of water from your water bottle, or a pinch of your sandwich.  I love to have sweet herbs with me, like a little dried mint, or anise and leave a sweet token of my appreciation in nature.  For people I prefer to use words to express my appreciation, and sometimes cookies. 

This is the month to go on and try a gratitude practice- and see what effect it has on your mental health. What do you spy with your little eye that brings a feeling of gratitude? It will change your life!