By Dave Warner
Hot chocolate and cookies on an airline flight came as a happy surprise for Seattle resident Corinne Whiting.
So she did what increasing numbers of Americans are doing: she noted her gratitude for that moment, in writing.
Keeping what are called gratitude journals is becoming increasingly popular, with the young, the old, men and women, all in the cause of coping with the stress of daily life. There is evidence too that expressing gratitude is good for personal relationships and helping you deal with bad economic news. It’s even true in the rough and tumble world of business.
“It frames the way you look at the world,” said Whiting, 32, a writer. “When I do my gratitude journal, it kind of shifts my thinking. It trains your brain to look for the positive.”
For Whiting, it could be the hot chocolate and cookies, or a belly laugh that a 3-year-old cousin let out one day or sometimes notes on her vacation trips.
It’s not that a diary for Whiting is necessarily the standard notebook form. She has used Post-It notes, e-mails to friends and notes on paper.
Giving voice to a common issue, she grouses that she does not write her thoughts down as frequently as she thinks she should.
“I will say I will try to do it daily,” said Whiting, who nearly always has a happy smile. “But I’m not very consistent. You make excuses for it, but really it only takes 30 seconds.”
She finds that, “The times you need it the most are the times when it is the hardest,’ such as when she’s a bit cranky or in a funk.
A long-term funk – those that cause stress or anxiety – can cause a variety of physical symptoms, including rapid heart rate, sweating and trembling.
Starting a new job? That can increase your tension level, as will moving, getting married, breaking up with a partner or having a baby.
Some experts warn of falling into bad habits like drinking too much alcohol or abusing drugs when under stress.
Some suggestions for ways to cope, other than keeping a journal: get some support from friends, a clergyman or a counselor; eat a good diet; exercise regularly.
Stress is, of course, common in the business world. So it’s not surprising that a business school offers advice on coping – and that advice, from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, deals with the power of gratitude.
The school collected the thoughts of many others on the subject of gratitude, and concluded that writing a gratitude journal each day is helpful. No fair repeating items, though!
The school suggests a list of three to five items a day, and offers these examples: a project you finished, a good business meeting, a smile from a colleague or even just a nice spring day.
For her part, Whiting writes more than that once she gets going – five to 10 items is her normal list.
“Once you start, it’s almost hard to stop,” she said.
Part of the gratitude movement, too, is the writing of a letter thanking someone for a kindness. Your diary might be private, but of course your letter would not be, especially if you follow some advice that you visit the person you’re thanking and read the letter to them.
“Research shows that for a full month after a gratitude visit, happiness levels tend to go up while boredom and other negative feelings go down,” said the Ross school summary of gratitude.
That advice comes from a section of the school called the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, which aims to study organizations typified by appreciation and collaboration.
Other universities have taken a look at the gratitude movement too.
“Expressing gratitude is a tried and true way to deal with stress,” said a report from the University of Minnesota Extension service. “When we are able to think about the things we are grateful for and then express that gratitude, we remain positive and can better recognize opportunities.”
The university offered that advice in the context of the nation’s difficult economy, and how to cope with the stress it creates. The Minnesota advice on keeping a journal is to set aside five minutes a day to write your list.
“Showing appreciation is one of the characteristics of a healthy family,” said the Minnesota extension service.
In California, too, scholars are looking at the gratitude movement.
“Gratitude is the “forgotten factor” in happiness research,” said the Emmons Lab at the University of California-Davis. “We are engaged in a long-term research project designed to create and disseminate a large body of novel scientific data on the nature of gratitude, its causes, and its potential consequences for human health and well-being.”
The lab reported that gratitude journal writers:
- Exercise more regularly than others.
- Reported fewer physical ailments.
- Felt better about their lives as a whole.
- Were more optimistic about the week ahead.
If all that is not enough, a study at Florida State University suggests that the benefit of telling your partner you’re grateful changes the view of the relationship.
Whiting is a writer, not an academic, and she provides real-life experience with being grateful, and noting it.
She’s been doing some form of it since she was a teen-ager.
I think in high school I wrote down things that made me happy,” she said.
Do her friends notice her state of mind?
“I think so. My friends say gee, you’re dealing with this well.”
Whiting offers some down-to-earth advice on keeping a journal:
“I just go through my day and think of interactions I have with people that are really good -- just those internal moments when you have a warm and fuzzy feeling.”
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