5 Ways to Practice Gratitude When Life Feels Hard

When someone suggests you try being grateful when you failed an exam, lost your job, lost a loved one, are getting divorced, or are experiencing some other kind of awful, you probably want to punch that person in the face. (Hold on. Let me step aside.) But practicing gratitude during a difficult time can genuinely help. In 2009, I distinctly remember sitting around the table with my family, before or after my dad’s funeral, and all of us cracking up. I can’t remember why. But I can remember that it was the best kind of laughter—full body, sides hurting, faces contorted, uncontrollable, can’t-catch-your-breath laughter. And as I looked around my parents’ kitchen table, I remember being so grateful that during one of the worst and most painful moments of my life, my family dropped everything and flew down to be with my mom and me. And somehow, we were laughing! Somehow, gratitude was present in that pain. According to renowned gratitude researcher Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D, in his piece in Greater Good Magazine,  “No one ‘feels’ grateful that he or she has lost a job or a home or good health or has taken a devastating hit on his or her retirement portfolio.” This is understandable. Plus, “we don’t have total control over our emotions. We cannot easily will ourselves to feel grateful, less depressed, or happy.” But, Emmons writes, there’s a distinction between feeling grateful and being grateful. While we might not feel grateful during a difficult time, w...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Books General Habits Holiday Coping Inspiration & Hope Mental Health and Wellness Self-Help Stress Success & Achievement Gratitude Source Type: blogs