An Experiment In Gratitude - Dare You To Try It!
I'd like to share with you all a video that I really love. It's an experiment in gratitude! Check out the video here.
Did you know that gratitude is scientifically proven to increase your levels of warm, fuzzy happiness? 😁 That's why we have exercises in gratitude built into the Growth Path on 7 Cups! Members, you can access your Growth Path here.
It would be really cool if we could try out our own 7 Cups version of the experiment in the video and experience some of the goodness for ourselves. This is my challenge to you!
Here's how you can join in:
➀ Who is your special person? Think of someone who has had a positive influence in your life. It might be a friend, relative, teacher, health care professional, or even someone on 7 Cups! You can share who it is below in this thread.
➁ What would you say to them? Write them a letter. Again, you can post it here in the forum if you'd like to share. We'd love to see!
➂ Do it! If it's possible to do so, send them the letter! You could post it, mail it, or phone them and read it out, just like in the video.
➃ Post here to let us know how it goes! What was their response? How did it make you feel?
BE BRAVE - I dare you!
Post below to let me know if you're joining in!
I'm writing a letter to those who helped me in 7cot... :) Generally, the replies are always lovely. And I'm already smiling.
Oh, my... straight to the feels and now I am crying (not sad tears, bittersweet and poignant tears!) at work.
I want to do this... regularly. Maybe once a week or two?
Reading everyone who has and is doing this... phew! This is something powerful!
this idea is really great! tbh, I always use this tip (list down things you have and appreciate them) to guests/ members I talk to whenever they feel depressed, worthless or lonely. and I am really touched one of them really did it on a daily basis since I told her that.
Sadly the person that I would call is not someone I can contact. This wonderful and kind woman was the person that you spoke to at the refuge my mother took us to, she helped with my depression and helped me better understand my mental problems.
that person is my friend naoki.
he started with explaining what i needed to buy, how to buy them and generally how to live life in this foreign country. but later on, i was able to share not just everyday mishaps but even the more painful mistakes i have made in my past. it stirred him, but he quickly accepted my flaws. cheers to this kind and gentle man.
Sometimes, my daily struggles with depression (even when I'm not in an episode of depression) distorts how I see 'reality.' Anxiety and depression make it so I truly think nobody cares, or truly think that nobody wants me around that they're just tolerating me, that pretty much anything I do will make the people I love mad at me. (i.e. not talking to them for a couple days, which means I'm terrified to text them because what if they hate me because I've been 'ignoring' them? Stuff like that.)
The people I consider my Chosen Family understand this. And I am filled with so much gratitude for those people for so many reasons. They know that an invitation out means hella anxiety for me, and that it's probably a "no" if I'm invited somewhere I'm unfamiliar with--so, throughout the years I've known them, they know to follow up with something like "we'd all really like if you went there, but nobody will be upset with you if you can't or don't want to come out." And though they know that my anxiety will probably prevent me from going out place I don't know or going to familiar places (i.e. the arcade) on certain days, they still invite me. Every time. Which is huge--I feel like lots of people would stop inviting a person who constantly is on the fence about going out or seeing them or something, but they don't, because they've taken the time and emotional energy to understand how my jerkbrain works. They know it is my jerkbrain, not me not wanting to do things.
(Stuff like . . .idk, for example If I don't leave my home for a while, and didn't talk to anyone really during that period, I'd feel I can't go now because I've been away for so long they must be angry, and it's probably disrespectful and selfish of me to show up out of nowhere and expect people to just be okay with it. They take the time and extra effort to show, not just say "JayJay, we're really happy to see you; it's great that you came out today," that I am always warmly welcomed and don't need to have anxiety about that.)
I am grateful in every way to have the people I consider my Chosen Family consistently in my life. I have enormous gratitude to those who hang onto me when I can't hang onto myself.
My Chosen Family is only, like, four people--but they're the only people I need. Because home is not a place . . . it's a feeling.
@AnUnlovelyPoet
I like that, it is a feeling. Home is where we want to be, not where we have to be.
I am grateful to my husband who continues to love me through this horrible addiction, and I am grateful for all of you, always ready to listen.
I am very grateful for trees and greenspace
Just knowing that I can go for a walk and see trees, flowers, grass....well, it's all snow now, makes me know that the world can be so magical
- touch, sound, sight, smell, thought
- all my limbs and the rest of my body
- i'm almost done with a very large project (i could have very easily have never finished)
- the people who are supporting my work
- my family
- my pets
- how much time there is
- the ability to improve
- all the friends I've yet to meet
- the knowledge I've gained so far
- the progress I've made so far
- yoga
- water
- heat
- potential
I am so grateful for my Family (not just biological). I don't deserve them, I know, but they are my anchor to life. Without them, I would be gone. My Family gives me motivation, they are the people that encourage me to try again. They are the ones that pick me up when I fall. I love them.
