According to a recent story on NPR, research shows that being grateful can literally be good for your heart.
We all know that appreciating our blessings is good for us. It helps us put life’s challenges into perspective. As it turns out, it might very well do much more.
Paul Mills, a researcher at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, discovered that the more gratitude people expressed, the healthier they were! Mills had patients with heart disease keep a journal listing two things they were grateful for each day. A significant percentage of these patents subsequently had a reduction of inflammation and abnormal heart rhythms when compared to those patients that didn’t keep a gratitude journal.
In Hebrew gratitude is called Hakarat HaTov - Recognition of the Good. I suppose this is why the Talmud states "Mitzvah gedola l’hiyot b’simcha tamid – It is a great Mitzvah to always be happy and appreciative."
So, what are the things – both big and small – that you are most grateful for? And how do you nurture your sense of gratitude every day?
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