The Healing Power of Gratitude

Thank you. We’re feeling better already, just knowing that you’ve taken the time to read this. Why? Because, as the Wall Street Journal reports, there is a well-documented correlation between gratitude and health. One study mentioned in the Journal found that health-care workers who catalogued their reasons for gratitude experienced a 28 percent reduction in stress, and that writing about gratitude can cut the risk of depression in half. Another study found that “prompting people to list five things they were grateful for several times a week not only brought an uptick in mood but also resulted in subjects devoting more time to exercise and to helping others.” Wait, there’s more. Grateful people were found to eat 25 percent fewer fatty foods and have lower blood pressure than people who were less grateful. So yes, thanks again for taking the time to read this.