Recently, I’ve come across a couple of websites that offer an abundance of good news and have found that Facebook is also a constant source of psychologically and spiritually nourishing possibilities.  A recent youtube clip of a man named Shawn Achor speaking in a TEDx presentation called, “The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to Performance, reminded me of the power of gratitude.  As part of the research Shawn has done into positive psychology, he and others have found that if people take the time to identify three things each day that express gratitude, there is an observable effect in the brain and overall attitude of happiness. 

I resonated with this, as gratitude is one of my constant companions and I consistently experience how dropping into it can shift me from feeling down to feeling better.  The thing about gratitude is that you don’t have to experience anything grand in order to be able to experience and express this powerful antidote to unhappiness.  For example, something as small as seeing a prism of light on the wall, creating a beautiful rainbow of color, can be enough to elicit a delighted sense of gratitude in me.  Or, walking along in Central park and suddenly noticing a pattern of light and shadow on a tree trunk that I didn’t expect and that is beautiful to my eyes also becomes a moment of feeling and expressing gratitude for the magic inherent in nature’s beauty.

Developing a habit of gratitude means developing a neural network in the brain that orients to what’s going right in your life.  Gratitude is self-reinforcing, in that the more you express it, the more things you see for which to be grateful.  It’s one of the more positive “loops” you can get into.  Most of us have loops in our brains that take us into fear places, so developing a “gratitude loop” offers you a supportive and nourishing place to put your attention as you move through any given day.

Focusing on gratitude doesn’t mean to attempt to ignore things that aren’t going well or that need to be changed.  The capacity to discern when something is out of place or not good for you is an important perspective to always have available when you need it.  It’s just not where you want to live 24/7.

As with all the experiments, this one is an invitation to become more aware of how you move through your world.  It asks you to notice how your state of mind affects the quality of your life and how to practice shifting gears when you discover that you’re in a state of mind or emotional reaction that doesn’t empower you.  Remember to bring along curiosity as your constant and gentle companion and to allow judgments to arise, move through, and move on without additional attention or struggle.