Column by Dr. Ann Hollingsworth
Research shows that living a life of gratitude makes it more pleasant and healthier. Appreciation is knowing the value of something. Gratitude is feeling thankful for something. Often, our heads know the value of something, but our feelings may ignore that value. That makes a vast difference in the quality of life.
Recently, I was in a lecture about emotions and health, and the speaker shared differences in health between optimists and pessimists. Optimists are people who choose to see the positive side of things and this helps them to be more appreciative and more grateful in their lives. Here are some of the differences that living in gratitude can make (from a lecture with Trinity School of Natural Health).
Optimism helps people cope with disease and recover from surgery. Studies conducted at Harvard show that optimists are 50 percent less likely to require re-hospitalization post-surgery, are three times less likely to develop high blood pressure and heart disease, develop fewer viral infections (like COVID), have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and have lower levels of those inflammatory factors that predict the risk of heart attack or stroke. Optimists have fewer episodes of learned helplessness – instead will take matters into their own hands to prevent issues or resolve them if they arise. Optimists have fewer instances of bad life events and have more social support and encouragement. On the other hand, pessimists make twice as many visits to the doctor and have twice as many infectious diseases.
Proverbs 23:7 states that “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” This is obviously true when it comes to living a life of appreciation and gratitude. Our thoughts are choices. As the saying goes, we can see the glass as “half-full or half-empty.” That choice makes a difference in the quality of our lives.
