4 Reasons Why Expressing Gratitude Can Lessen Your Stress

Capture

Let’s face it, the end of the year can be really stressful. So what can we do about that?

As we continue to be engaged civically, learning how to lessen our stress is really important. There’s so much we need to fix and change in our country, and so much on the line in 2020, we need folks to be here for the long haul. Cultivating skills to de-stress is one key to our success.

It turns out expressing gratitude is an effective way to de-stress. Dr. Robert Emmons of University of California, Berkeley has researched gratitude for years, and has looked at the ways it affects our physical and mental health. You can read a great summary of his findings at his article Why Gratitude is Good, but here are four main points:

✦ Gratitude magnifies positive emotions
✦ Gratitude blocks toxic, negative emotions
✦ Grateful people are more stress resistant
✦ Grateful people have a higher sense of self-worth

How will you express gratitude today? Is there someone you like to talk to about politics? Let them know you appreciate that they’re there. Did your Congressperson or Senator vote the way you wanted on a recent bill? Send them an email and let them know. For weekly inspiration, check out the Acts of Gratitude that appears towards the end of every Americans of Conscience Checklist

It is easy to concentrate on all the bad things that are happening. They need our attention because we want to fix them. But taking time to focus on the good things that are happening and taking a moment to express that gratitude will help you stay engaged for much longer. And we need you.

If you like this post, I hope you will share it! You can find my content on:
Twitter: @DHStokyo
Instagram: @DHStokyo
Facebook:
Political Charge 
Subscribe to get my posts via email

Click to share:


Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: , , , ,

3 replies

Trackbacks

  1. 4 Reasons Why Expressing Gratitude Can Lessen Your Stress - DemCast
  2. 23 Effective Ways to Avoid Political Burnout in 2020 - DemCast
  3. Let’s Spread Some Cheer For Our Election Workers – Political⚡Charge

Leave a Reply