The Power of Gratitude

 

Ms. Sandy Kaur

 

Practicing appreciation is a crucial skill that helps us control our perspective and creates greater resiliency to life challenges. Regardless of one’s inherent level of gratitude, it’s a way of life that we can successfully cultivate for a more fulfilling life. Although stressful situations such as the current global pandemic have silver linings and positive outcomes such as the opportunity for personal growth, its adverse effects outweigh these benefits. Nevertheless, studies have shown that practicing gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. This article aims to explore the power of gratitude and how it has helped many people, including myself, to get over the changes to our daily lives during the difficult times of COVID-19.

 

The global pandemic particularly stressed me out due to the fact that it is close to impossible to predict how things will develop and its long-term effects. It was devastating to see my two rooted countries, the United Kingdom and India, being badly affected by COVID-19.  This started to distract me from my daily challenges in Hong Kong.

 

During this stressful time, I started to spend 20 minutes every morning doing meditation and learning to be thankful for the things I have and how content I am as a human being.  Meditation was an instant uplift to my moods. Also, through practicing the art of gratitude, I was able to learn that I might be more fortunate than many others whom the pandemic hit badly. Therefore, it helped me to learn how I can offer help to the needy during these difficult times. This was the first time I experienced the power of gratitude!

 

Furthermore, gratitude involves many elements, self-care being one of them. Self-care is a powerful tool for staying optimistic and expressing gratitude. In the course of the quarantine period and economic shutdowns, people all over the world have taken the stay-at-home opportunity to eat well, exercise and try to get quality sleep. The COVID-19 crisis has been associated with an enormous scale of fear, uncertainty and anxiety across the globe. Therefore, relaxing with some yoga or meditation has also been widely advised to be a means of building more positive emotions, relishing good experiences and improving one’s health which helps in dealing with adversities.

 

Additionally, kicking back and reading a book or watching Netflix shows have been shown to decrease anxiety and reduce stress levels. Basically, being gentle with oneself and doing something every day just for you is an effective way of expressing gratitude in the midst of a global pandemic.