A Healthy Balance: Gratitude is important
When we were younger, we were taught to be grateful for the things, friends and family we had, to be grateful not to be someone we weren’t (typically a starving child in another country), and grateful to others who sacrificed for our well-being.
Not that it was always easy as we cleaned our plates of lima beans, withstood another cheek-pinching from an ancient relative, or worse still, Christmas presents in the forms of underwear and socks.
As adults today, many of us find it equally difficult to find gratitude in our daily lives. With the economy tanking, job situations becoming precarious, family and relationship responsibilities devolving from enjoyable to major stressors, we all have a lot on our plates. And not all of it smells like roses.
Looking at it another way, recognizing things to be grateful for and expressing that gratitude has the proven benefit of improving our outlook on life and our overall wellbeing. By taking time to express how grateful we are for people in our lives, we foster healthier relationships with them.
