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Blog archive

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

GRATITUDE - IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!

By Susan Kujawa
Posted: 01/27/2023
Tags:

Gratitude Might Be a Cure-All

I  have a gratitude journal with space to write 3-4 items that make me feel grateful. I choose to begin the day by looking forward while drinking my morning coffee, (which I am always grateful for.)  I review the previous day and ponder things for which I’m grateful. I try to note something new each day. This small change in my thinking colors my day and hovers around in my mind for the day. Sometimes its as simple and basic as that “the lights didn’t go out in the storm”, or “having my kitty home after she had been boarded for several weeks during Christmas”, or “a good night’s sleep”. More complicated was wading through my new insurance plan online with a helpful assistant. (Bless pleasant and patient customer service folk.)

During the pandemic, all I could see was four walls and woes. All were isolating, no one was close, not even my kids who live a half a mile from me. We had coffee and a few meals outside when it was warm enough. I was complaining to my daughter and she told me she was keeping a gratitude journal. She juggles work from home, house, family, hockey and makes time for me, a really stressful life. I asked her what she wrote that morning and she said her boss and the crossing guard. She can’t change her world, but she brings smiles and sunshine wherever she goes. A good lesson for me.

Thinking about what I am grateful for changes how I see my day and how I see my life. I am more content than I was a few years ago. One question in the journal asked what is my favorite emotion? I noted that I feel joy when all is right with my world. I know where I am and who I am, fitting like the correct puzzle piece.

Information from Mayo Clinic states, “Studies have shown that feeling thankful can improve sleep, mood and immunity. Gratitude can decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease.” If a pill could do this, everyone would be taking it. Your brain is designed to problem-solve rather than appreciate. You often must override this design to reap the benefits of gratitude. Simply stated, gratitude should be practiced daily — just as you'd take that magic pill if it existed. Try starting your day by thinking of someone or some event you're grateful for. It could be appreciating a friend who sends you funny texts, a friend who recognizes your gifts, or the barista who hands you your coffee and shares friendly conversation.”

Practicing gratitude literally changes your body’s chemistry. Behavior changes biology. Gratitude can boost neurotransmitter serotonin and activate the brain stem to produce dopamine. Dopamine is our brain’s pleasure chemical. Positive gestures benefit you by releasing oxytocin, a hormone that helps connect people. Some people call it the love hormone. Yoga instructors describe this feeling as a warm feeling that spreads from your heart throughout your body and into the world.

Inexpensive gratitude journals are readily available on Amazon as simple or as complex as you may desire, making this an easy way to begin your gratitude journey.

What am I grateful for this morning? As I sit warming my hands my note reads, “I’m grateful for my cup of hot coffee.” I’m going to have a great day.

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