What we try to do to fix it
So, what do we do?
As I wrote in my devotional Find Rest, we often try to address discontentment by changing what led to it. “I’ll be content with my appearance if I lose 15 pounds.” Or, “I’ll be content with my living situation if I can make more money and get out of my tiny studio.”
Yet a funny thing happens on the way to the bigger apartment. Most of us are thrilled momentarily … and then sink right back into being attuned to what we don’t have.
Let’s hop off the hamster wheel of doing and lead with a new way of thinking instead. Let’s adopt an attitude of gratitude. For what we do have. For who our spouse is rather than who he or she isn’t. For the fact that we have a warm and dry apartment, tiny or not!
Research shows that practicing gratitude for 15 minutes a day, five days a week for at least six weeks improves mental wellness. Other studies have linked expressing gratitude to improved sleep, immunity, mood, wellness, and happiness – and decreased depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and disease. Still other studies suggest that an attitude of gratitude dramatically improves relationships, helps heal personal trauma, and helps prevent burnout.
Gratitude, it turns out, is a superpower.
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