Читать книгу Anxiety For Dummies - W. Doyle Gentry, Laura L. Smith - Страница 74

Writing about your distressing feelings makes a great start. However, if you’d like more bang for your buck, take a few extra minutes and write about what you feel grateful for each day. Why? Because positive emotions help counteract negative emotions. Writing about your boons and blessings improves mood, increases optimism, and may benefit your health.

At first blush, you may think that you have little to be grateful for. Anxiety can so easily cloud vision. Did your mother ever urge you to clean your plate because of the “starving kids in China”? As much as we think that pushing kids to eat is a bad idea, her notion to consider those less fortunate has value. Take some time to ponder the positive events and people in your life.

 Kindnesses: Think about those who have extended kindness to you.

 Education: Obviously, you can read; that’s a blessing compared to the millions in the world with no chance for an education.

 Nourishment: You probably aren’t starving to death, whereas (as your mother may have noted) millions are.

 Home: Do you live in a cardboard box or do you have a roof over your head?

 Pleasure: Can you smell flowers, hear birds sing, or touch the soft fur of a pet?

Sources of possible gratitude abound — freedom, health, companionship, and so on. Everyone has a different list. Start yours now.

The brain tends to focus on what’s wrong or threatening in our lives. Noticing and actively appreciating what’s right helps counteract that tendency and will make you feel better.