The Gazillion Benefits Of Gratitude

Healing trauma, shedding materialism, and strengthening relationships

Worry is a time machine to the future.

Regret is a time machine to the past.

Gratitude is a time machine to the present.

No one books my travel for me.

I decide where I want to go.

. . . .

I wrote the above stanzas a couple of years ago, and I’ll be real–I argue with the words from time to time. Especially in moments when it feels nearly impossible to be grateful. If you’ve ever tried being grateful mid-migraine, you know what I mean. If anyone has ever told you to be grateful mid-migraine, you really really know what I mean.

That said, it is in my more painful moments that I need the healing magic of gratitude the most. When times get tough, my commitment to be grateful grows even stronger. And sure, it feels like an olympic endeavor at times. Traveling in the direction of regret or worry is the route my brain is accustomed to, and I’m still learning how to take a different road. It gets easier and easier with practice. And the practice feels like a genuinely holy endeavor as I believe living gratefully is our natural state. Why would the sky be so extraordinary if we were not meant to look up while hollering to someone we love, “Come look at the moon!”

As I’ve been more in touch with gratitude than ever this past year, it resonated with me to read that gratitude lessens our materialism and tends to bust us out of our capitalist mindset and addiction to “stuff”. I’ve felt this through and through recently. Gratitude floods me with a feeling of wholeness. A sense of having so much, I don’t know what to do with it all. And by having I mean having lungs, having a heart, having a yard with trees in it, having friends who are kind, having a partner who I adore. When tapped into appreciation for such things my longing for actual “things” disappears. I feel showered in a natural sense of abundance.

Gratitude has also been found to be vital in healing trauma. I’ve witnessed this directly in my own life. After my cancer diagnosis a year ago I experienced an almost nonstop state of appreciation for everything and everyone in my life. It was as if gratitude moved in and evicted the pain from my past. My former mental state became unrecognizable. I’ve since learned that’s common for many. A study was published about the impact of gratitude on war veterans. Those with “higher levels of gratitude experienced lower rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

Something else I’ve felt that is backed up by research—gratitude greatly improves relationships with partners, friends and family. It feels so good to be around folks who expressly appreciate our presence, and it feels not-so-good to around anyone who expresses ambivalence. Being thanked and celebrated is energizing and life-giving. A couple of weeks ago a friend came over for dinner who is one of the most vocally appreciative people I know. She kept saying, “This meal is so good!” Or, “I love being around you.” And, “The conversations we have make me want to write!” It was hard to let her leave.

I hope you all know how grateful I am that you are here. The feeling never leaves my heart. Thank you so much.

Love, Grateful Time Traveler Andrea 🖤