Felicia A. Libo

Truthfully, I’ve been a skeptic about the “practice” of gratitude, for whatever reason, but now there is scientific evidence that the practice of gratitude can result in better sleep and more energy, an increase in well being, and a host of other positive outcomes that seem worth exploring. Given the state of our economy and how it’s affecting so many people, it makes sense to explore a practice that might be helpful in terms of financial as well as overall health.

So on Monday, June 22, I’m starting a 30-day Gratitude Project, and hope you will join me. June 22 is the new moon, a good time to start new projects, and this one will be unique, simple, and hopefully helpful. If you look on the internet, there are several gratitude experiments and projects going on right now, where online communities are joining together to practice gratitude for a varying period of time, from 21 days (the time it takes to break a habit, according to some) to 42 days and 100 days or longer.

But it’s the work of Robert Emmons, Ph.D., a leading scholar in the positive psychology movement, that is the driving force for this project. His book, Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier is based on scientific studies he has done about gratitude and how it can make a positive difference in your life. I am reading the book now, and hope to share some of it with you over the next 30 days (starting next week), so it can hopefully be helpful to you as well.

And of course, most of us know that gratitude is a good thing to practice, but do we practice it? I think about it, but truthfully, I forget to do it regularly and I never really knew how to practice it on a regularly basis. Then I found a “Gratitude Journal” at Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, and decided it made sense to start one while reading Emmons’ book. Of course you can use any journal, but it’s too easy for me in a regular journal to get carried away with other types of writing that is not so grateful, if you know what I mean.

It’s a simple process – write down three things every day you’re grateful for and see what happens (and any variation that works for you – some people write three or so in the morning and three more at night, and there is no limitation to how you do it, as long as it remains simple and helpful enough that you keep doing it.)

I picked 30 days for two reasons – one is that it’s easy to remember and track on a calendar, and two is that if it becomes a habit and you decide to do it for 60 days, June 22-August 22 includes three new moons, which I think is relevant (and I’ll write more about that in the blog next week). So I do hope you’ll join me and let me know how this works for you – feel free to leave comments here or email me at flibo@mydurango.net. Next week I’ll write more about Emmons’ work and his study. I look forward to doing the Gratitude Project with you!

Felicia