Health Benefits of Gratitude: 5 Ways Counting Your Blessings Can Improve Your Life

Thanksgiving will come and go, but the positive effects of gratitude can last all year.

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Gratitude can help you sleep better

In a study from Grant MacEwan University in Alberta, Canada, anxious students slept better when they jotted down a list of things they were thankful for before bed every night for a week than when they didn’t do the writing exercise. Study authors hypothesized that thinking about their blessings helped students reduce worry and quiet their minds. Follow this essential guide to deeper sleep.

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Gratitude can increase your willpower

In a fascinating experiment from Harvard University and others, scientists challenged participants with a test of willpower: Take $54 now or receive $80 in 30 days. While they contemplated their decision, the subjects were asked to write about a time they felt grateful, happy, or neutral. Those who wrote about a grateful experience showed far more resolve to delay their reward than the rest of the group. The scientists believe gratitude fostered long-term thinking, which bolstered willpower. These powerful gratitude quotes will remind you to be grateful everyday.

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Gratitude can lower stress

Instead of counting worries, try putting a number to your blessings. According to science journalist Giovanni Alesio, several studies suggest that gratitude can decrease stress and anxiety by activating the areas in the brain that the release feel-good hormones serotonin and dopamine. Follow these stress management tips to find the calm in your life.

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Gratitude can help you make more friends

If you want to expand your social circle, try saying these two words: thank you. In a 2015 study published in the journal Emotion, thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek an ongoing relationship. (Here are 24 little ways to be a true friend.)

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Gratitude can reduce aches and pains

Sounds like a long shot, but according to research by Robert Emmons, a University of California, Davis professor and pioneer in the study of gratitude, grateful people report fewer symptoms of illness and are less bothered by aches and pains. (These mental outlooks can make your pain feel way worse.)

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