I’m taking a communications class this semester. It’s one of those credits that you have to take but you never found the time to take it until you realize you need it to graduate next semester…
Anyhow I gave a speech a few days ago on happiness. I did a lot of research on the topic in terms of psychology. Something I found that’s phenomenal is the effect of thankfulness/gratefulness on one’s happiness.
There was a study done in which one group of people had to write in a gratitude journal only once a week and the control group didn’t. It was found that after a period of only three weeks the people who were writing in their gratitude journals once a week were had a significantly higher level of happiness and life satisfaction then the control group!
So when people say to count your blessings… it really does work. It’ll make you a happier person! Why? The more we write down what we’re grateful the more appreciation we have for the things that God has blessed us with and the less we’ll complain.
And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. [16:18]
I tried this one day. Just for one minute. Literally. Here’s what I came up with.
I’m grateful for…
1. Islam
2. My parents
3. My sisters
4. My home
5. My friends
6. My laptop
7. My bed
8. Food on the table everyday
9. Money
10. Knowledge
11. My car
12. My ability to walk
13. Ability to talk
14. Ability to taste and smell things
15. My eyesight
16. My hands
17. My heart
18. My brain and ability to think and analyze
19. Clothes to cover me
20. Ability to breathe
21. My teeth to chew with
22. My ears to hear
23. School
24. Running water
25. Hot showers
26. Thick coats for the winter
27. Shoes so I don’t have to walk barefoot
28. Paper
29. Stars to enjoy looking at
30. Beaches
31. My memory
32. The ability to love and care for others
33. Fresh air
34. My ability to blink so my eyes don’t try out
35. Tears
36. Books
And the list goes on. I think I could continue writing this list for the rest of my life and still never be able to count every blessing I have. I took an infant development class once. It’s amazing how many things could go wrong in the womb, how many diseases or infections we could catch, and yet here we are. Most of us alive and perfectly normal. Isn’t that enough to be grateful about for the rest of our lives?
May we become more reflective and grateful people. Ameen.
14 comments:
I'm grateful for:
Food
Medicine when I'm feeling sick
My grandparents
My home
I live in a safe neighborhood
I am a female
I wasn't born with disease or disorder
Thomas Edison for creating the light bulb
That my father has a job in this economy
Having cool parents
My cat, meow.
I have a lot of teeth
I love this idea and I say Im going to do this with my husband every night. To find ONE positive thing a day and it'll show us and teach us to be more grateful for each day. Because honestly each day IS a gift from God.
Yeah I wanna do something like this everyday too.
this is cute and so are you
mrs. c's list is cute too
That's good to know that it actually helps. Maybe I'll do one too.
:) if only this kind of stuff could come to people naturally!!!
Amen! I was trying to do this on my blog every Sunday but it got away from me and I should start again!!
I'm grateful for everything I have and everything I don't.
Thank you for reminding us.
Nice post!
Ive been trying to do this since the start of the week. It has a certain positive effect in my life and the way i see things. I'm grateful to God and don't take a single breathe of life for granted.
Nice post!
Ive been trying to do this since the start of the week. It has a certain positive effect in my life and the way i see things. I'm grateful to God and don't take a single breathe of life for granted.
Awesome post! You know when it comes down to it...it really is the simple things that bring true happiness.
i always wanted to do this so here it goes, im grateful for:
wonderful friends
wonderful family (siblings)
wonderful hubby (he shudve been first, lol, who supports and lifts me when so many ppl are saying stupid things)
wonderful kids (who need too much attn)
and the list goes on
I have a friend who writes down 5 things she is grateful for in each day. Somedays are light on activitiy forcing you to recognize the small things. Gratitude is the best attitude. Thanks for sharing!
I agree...subhanAllah there's SO much to be grateful for every single of our lives that it's nearly impossible to thank Allah enough for everything, nevertheless we should try our best.
The thing about things going wrong in the womb is Very true. If we are healthy in our 20s with all our senses and limbs intact we should be forever grateful for that. JazakAllah for this article...
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