Be Grateful, Biatch! How gratitude will reprogram your brain.

This morning when I lifted my feet out of my bed I immediately cringed at the cold seeping through the window that was cracked open.

Raised in Southern California, I’m no friend of the cold, and instantly my mood went from neutral to Minus 2.

Grumbling, I headed to the bathroom to discover my partner had used up the toothpaste and not replaced it. Mood drop to Minus 4. In the kitchen I was confronted with the fact that my smoothie banana had gone bad. Mood drop to Minus 6.

I could keep on going like that because it was, you know, ‘one of those days’. But then I remembered I had a secret weapon - a tool that, as demonstrated by scientific research, will raise moods, lower stress levels and makes you happier: GRATITUDE!

For the sceptics amongst you who think that gratitude is the new fad, similar to crystals and other nonsense spread to prey on the naïve and gullible, I can assure you that there have been over 100 studies across multiple reputable universities such as Harvard that have proven gratitude is a major player in mental and relationship health. That’s right, it starts with you.


These WoW Crystals are pretty cool though and I’m a softy, Vanilla WoW is calling to me next year. So in wake of the Diablo mess (Come on, mobile guys…?) I’m still grateful for this and the Warcraft 3 remake! GRATITUDE, even with 200 thousand dislikes…

It kind of makes sense: your thoughts are influenced by what you spend the most time doing, right?! If you expose yourself to negative thoughts all day you shouldn’t be surprised if you think your day was bad.

But gratitude surpasses the personal: showing thankfulness towards others makes their day better, too! And Gratitude can do so much more:

1. It helps you make friends. Of course, you want to hang out with those people who are thankful to know you and who show appreciation, right?! Show gratitude for the small things your friend does, and you’ll be surprised how their mood goes up, too!
   
   
   
    
2. Gratitude lowers FOMO (Fear of missing out). If you’re busy sniffing the flowers alongside the road you’re on, you don’t have the time to be worried that other flowers may smell better. Same goes with envy. Someone who is habitually grateful won’t be eyeing someone else’s possessions or successes! (Don’t worry my FOMO isn’t going to be triggered by Diablo Immortal though any time soon…Am I laying this on too thick?).
   
   
   
    
3. Gratitude improves self-esteem. Self-esteem and happiness go hand-in-hand. If you think you’re awesome, you’ll be a much happier camper, right?! Practicing gratitude forces you to acknowledge all the wonderful things people are doing for you. And they wouldn’t be doing that if you weren’t such a cutie pie, right!? (That’s right, to someone you’re cute just the way you are my little Cacodemons). Ed – Credits to Ultravioletbat for this cutey
   
   
   UltraVioletBat
   
    
4. Gratitude helps you accomplish what you set out to do. Seeing all the lovely things in your life go right gives you the motivation to keep striving – you’ve gotten so far, working a bit harder will get you even farther! (E.g. Damn nice empire dude, I always preferred Egypt for those wonder bonuses though Civ fans)
   
   
   
    
5. Gratitude makes you less vulnerable to stress. Gratitude creates little pockets of positive focus and relief. These little bubbles of joy interrupt the stress reaction and take away its momentum, making is significantly less powerful. Try thanking your team mates in that game of LoL or Dota next time, those games are pools of rage sometimes, but if you’re coming out the end smelling of roses, perhaps you can drag some ragekids along with you (Well… maybe – Ed).
   
   
   
    
6. Gratitude makes you physiologically healthier. Because gratitude lowers stress levels: you’re too busy being wowed by life to produce all the stress hormones that make people sick. Less cortisol, noradrenaline and less unconsciously tensed muscles in your back, neck and abdomem. This picture of 3 differen't men being totally unrelated.
   
   
   
    

Emotional intelligence guru, Dr Travis Bradberry, says that when you’re stressed or unhappy, naming 3 things you’re grateful about will not only make a difference at that moment, but when cultivated, make you a much happier and pleasant person within days. And that’s gonna help friendships, parties, and dates.

Ok 3 things, here goes:

World of Warcraft Vanilla, Warcraft 3 Reforged, Diablo 4….wait.

So if you’re feeling sad, unwanted, tired, frustrated, cold or just plain lonely, why not list 10 things you are grateful for? Don’t wait, do it now – you’ll be surprised by how blessed you are!