Feel Good Friday – Joy And Gratitude

Every week we team up with the Canadian Mental Health Association Lambton Kent to share different things you can do to feel good!  Not just in a pandemic – but everyday.

This week’s Feel Good Friday is about finding moments of joy and gratitude.    

There’s a saying I love “There is always something to be grateful for.”  I try to remember that when things feel too hard or the challenge is too big. A reminder to switch your focus from what is wrong to what is good.  It’s easy to complain about not having something.  We need to refocus when our minds want to go to what we’re missing.

So much has changed for us this year, including the holidays.  What should be a big celebration with family and friends looks very different for us this year.

We want to see our loved ones.  We want to have the holiday parties and get togethers.   It’s easy to focus on what’s being taken away and what we’re losing.  Instead, this week’s Feel Good Friday is to remind us to find moments of joy and gratitude in this holiday season.

“Being able to be present in the moment isn’t always easy, but experts say that practicing this technique allows us to use all five of our senses, to bring ourselves into the moment and appreciate what we have in front of us. This activity helps us to feel gratitude and decrease our anxieties. Try finding small things that will eventually add up, hearing Christmas music that makes you smile or decorating your Christmas tree.

 Remember that there is always hope and somewhere to turn – CMHA Sarnia Lambton is always here for you and continues to offer support and programs to clients. If you need immediate support, contact our 24/7 Mental Health First Response Team at 1-800-307-4319.”-

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What are you grateful for in this moment?  As you look around, what is one thing you feel gratitude for?  I’m learning to not take anything for granted.  The breath in my lungs, my beating heart.  Sometimes it’s something as simple as that.  I’m here.  I’ve got another day on this earth with my husband and kids.  Another day to do something great.

I am grateful for so much in this life.

Being grateful changes your perspective.   Studies have proven that gratitude improves mental, physical and relational well-being. It impacts the overall experience of happiness, and the effects tend to be long-lasting.  So many benefits of gratitude.

It’s suggested, to increase your attitude of gratitude, to keep a “gratitude journal” and track what you are grateful for.  The idea to write about at least three positive things on a daily basis.

“Recording these positive experiences boosts levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy, especially when compared to those who recorded or focused on negative events.”

Research shows tracking those things you are grateful for for two consecutive weeks has lasting positive effects for up to six months.  How incredible is that?

What are three things you are feeling grateful for right now?

I am grateful for all those that put up Christmas lights for us all to enjoy this year and the group on Facebook for the maps we can follow to see them all

I am grateful a community that cares about others

I am grateful for more quality time with my family

And I am grateful for the ability to binge watch Schitt’s Creek and Grey’s Anatomy and God Friended Me (smile)

Categorised in: Afternoons Fridays

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan