EPISODE #146- Transform Your Mental Health with the Power of Gratitude

Unlock the transformative power of gratitude in your life and mental health journey. In this episode of "Win Over Depression," hosted by Tamera Trotter, we explore how a mindset of appreciation can be a catalyst for emotional well-being and resilience. Delve into the science of gratitude and its profound impact on reducing stress and anxiety. You'll learn practical strategies, from maintaining a gratitude journal to expressing appreciation in everyday interactions, all aimed at fostering positive thoughts and emotions. If you're on a quest for personal solace or seeking ways to uplift someone you care about, this episode promises to equip you with the necessary tools and insights to navigate the intricate landscape of emotional health.

Join Tamera as she guides you through the essential elements of gratitude, emphasizing its dual role as both an emotion and a habitual practice. Discover the shift from a perspective of scarcity to one of abundance, and how this can transform your mindset and enhance your emotional resilience. Through inspiring stories and expert advice, this episode illuminates the path to recognizing and celebrating the myriad blessings in your life, even amid challenges. Embrace this opportunity to prioritize self-care and renew your sense of hope, knowing that with gratitude, you can weather any storm and emerge stronger.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Hello and welcome. To Win Over Depression, your beacon of hope in the realm of mental health. I am your host, tamara Trotter. I am your companion on the journey to reclaiming joy and resilience, and this podcast will unravel the vital importance of managing your well-being amidst life's challenges. From practical strategies to uplifting stories and expert advice, each episode is a roadmap to cultivating mental wellness and overcoming the grip of depression. Whether you are seeking solace for yourself or supporting a friend, here you will find the tools and inspiration to navigate the complexities of emotional health. Join me as we embark on a transformative quest to prioritize self-care, resilience and the triumph of the human spirit. Let's together redefine the narrative of depression and embrace a life of purpose and fulfillment.

Speaker 1: 1:17

Hello, today we'll be talking about the science of gratitude and mental health. So let us first define what is gratitude. Gratitude is a practice of recognizing and appreciating the positive aspects of life, acknowledging the good things you have and expressing thankfulness for them. Gratefulness involves a conscious, intentional focus on what is working well, what you're thankful for and what brings you joy or fulfillment. At its core, gratitude is about cultivating a mindset of appreciation rather than taking things for granted or focusing solely on what might be lacking. When we show gratitude, it shows that we appreciate all that we have been given. There are so many people who constantly have negative thoughts about all the deficits and shortcomings that they have in their life. When we focus on that, we are not ever going to be able to cultivate a mindset of appreciation. Did you know that people worldwide want mostly to feel appreciated, to feel appreciated at work, to feel appreciated from their spouse for their kids, to appreciate all that they do for them? When people take others for granted, it is a negative feeling when people feel as if they are just being used.

Speaker 1: 2:59

There are a few key aspects of gratitude. The first is a mental or emotional state, because gratitude is both an emotion and a mindset. It is about feeling thankful for people, experiences or things that contribute to your well-being. As we have talked so much about depression and mindset, when we are grateful for what we have and we celebrate what we have, it definitely affects our well-being. When you're grateful, you recognize the positive influence, these things that you have in your life and you feel appreciated and show affection toward them. This could be as simple as appreciating the warmth of the sun or feeling grateful for the support of a friend. You know friends can be hard to come by, so if you have a friend that has been in your corner, a friend who has been with you through thick and thin, please acknowledge them and let them know how important you are in their life and how much you appreciate all that they continue to pour into you.

Speaker 1: 4:22

Gratitude isn't just a feeling. It can be a deliberate, ongoing practice. People often cultivate gratitude through actions like keeping a gratitude journal where they list things that they are thankful for daily, or by regularly expressing their appreciation to others, saying thank you or writing thank you notes. This active practice of appreciating others helps to train the mind to focus on positive aspects of life. Our mindset is everything. When we wake up daily, we should be celebrating that our eyes have opened. We should be grateful for the opportunity to breathe and to live another day.

Speaker 1: 5:13

Acknowledging the good, even in challenging times, also promotes gratitude. While gratitude often recognizes obvious blessings like family health or career success, it can also be about finding small moments of beauty or comfort during difficult times. People might practice gratitude by acknowledging the lessons learned, the strength gained or the kindness received from others, when we are able to look at and to see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that storms do not last always and we know that the next day will inevitably come. It should bring about hope and promise in our lives that we too can get through the storm and get to the other side. When we are grateful, we have a shift in our perspective. We have a shift in our perspective.

Speaker 1: 6:24

Gratitude is a powerful tool for shifting your thoughts and focusing on the positive. It helps you move from a focus of scarcity I don't have enough to one of abundance I have more than enough. This shift can reduce stress, anxiety and negative thinking, and increased feelings of happiness and well-being. When you focus on gratitude, you start noticing and appreciating all that you have, which can lead to greater contentment and emotional resilience. When we talk about emotional resilience, we understand that life has been difficult the last several years, but when we decide that we are still going to be grateful and that we are going to point out all that is good in our lives, then we are on the track to emotional resilience.

Speaker 1: 7:38

Gratitude often acknowledges the kindness of others, their generosity. It is also a way of recognizing that we are not alone in the world. When you suffer from depression, oftentimes you feel like you are all alone and that mindset and that thought that comes over you can be overwhelming. An episode of depression sets in and now everything that you had planned takes a back seat because you just aren't up to it. That's why we have to continue to push ourselves outside of our comfort zone so that the magic can happen. The magic happens outside our comfort zone when we recognize that even though we're not up to doing something when we show up, we go up. If we can just get outside the house, if we could just get up in the morning, get dressed and go outside, bask in the sun, walk around the block, play your favorite song. When we can do that, we are helping and feeding our mental health.

Speaker 1: 9:04

Research has also shown that showing gratitude has a number of mental health benefits. It absolutely can increase your mood, increase your feelings of well-being, reduce feelings of envy and resentment and even improve sleep quality. We have talked so much about the importance of getting enough sleep. Talk so much about the importance of getting enough sleep. So if you aren't getting at least six to eight hours of sleep every night, you are not helping your mental health. As a matter of fact, you are hurting your mental health. So think about what you can do to actually get that six to eight hours of sleep that is going to feed your mental health and set you up for a good day once you open your eyes and put your feet on the ground the next morning. In mental health terms, gratitude is associated with greater resilience, better coping skills and a more positive outlook on life, which has an absolute, direct effect on your mental well-being.

Speaker 1: 10:25

What are some examples of gratitude? There's three different types of examples of gratitude that I'd like to share with you. Those are big things, small things and challenging things. So what are the big things that we can be grateful for? Our family, our health, our job, a roof over our head, the ability to put food on our table, to have clothes on our back and to have a means of transportation. The second example of gratitude are the small things appreciating a warm cup of coffee, the sound of birds singing or a kind word from a friend. All of this shows that we have gratitude in our hearts. Then we have examples of challenging things that we're grateful for Finding gratitude and personal growth, lessons learned from hardship or support received during tough times. All of this is an example of gratitude and how it helps to reduce negative emotions and enhance positive emotions. So what are you grateful for? What did this year bring to you, 2024? What did you look forward to? How did you improve in your life and show areas of growth and development? Think about that and be grateful.

Speaker 1: 11:49

Gratitude can decrease feelings of envy, resentment and frustration and help shift your focus away from negative thoughts. Showing gratitude encourages happiness, joy and optimism, which improves your mood and overall emotional well-being. Gratitude promotes resilience. Grateful people tend to be more resilient in the face of stress, anxiety and adversity. They can better cope with challenges because they recognize the value and support they have in their lives. Gratitude improves relationships. Expressing gratitude toward others enhances social connections and strengthens relationships, which, in turn, provides emotional support and increases feelings of belonging.

Speaker 1: 12:56

If you really want to show how much you appreciate and are grateful for the people in their life, I want to give you a challenge For the next several weeks prior to this new year. Every single week, think about someone who you are grateful for and call them on the phone. And call them on the phone, have a conversation with them and tell them how much they mean to you and how grateful you are that they are in your life. You will, in turn, see that by doing this, your mindset and your practice can have a transformative effect on mental health. Practice can have a transformative effect on mental health. It will help you stay grounded, connected and hopeful even when life gets tough.

Speaker 1: 13:48

So be grateful and thankful even in the midst of feeling despair and sadness, because we must be proactive when it comes to managing our mental well-being. So list three things that you're doing to manage your mental health. Write them down and, when you are struggling with your mental health or you are slipping into an episode of depression, refocus your brain and your mind to something that is positive. I encourage you to keep a gratitude journal so that you can reflect on the things that you are grateful for and realize that you have more positive going in your life than negative. But we must be proactive in promoting the positive in our life. Remember we have to guard our heart and refrain from hanging around people who exhibit and show a negative spirit. We don't want that negativity to affect us in an adverse way.

Speaker 1: 14:59

I encourage you to be grateful and thankful and you'll see how your mental health turns around. I never want to end my podcast without thanking you so very much for listening. You continue to be the best part of when over depression. I am thankful and grateful for each and every one of you. Do me a favor share this podcast with a friend, share it with your family, post it on social media. There are so many people who can benefit from learning how to better manage their mental health, which is going to result in improved relationships, less and less episodes of depression, and you'll be able to get back on track and start to achieve the goals that you have set for yourself. Remember, win Over Depression is on TikTok and you can find us at 14 Days to Mental Wellness. You can also like and subscribe to our YouTube channel, also called when Over Depression. You can find us on LinkedIn, tumblr, twitter, as well as Pinterest at TT, mental Health Expert. Please consider subscribing to this podcast and if you would like to support this podcast in a financial way, consider becoming a patron. You can go to wwwpatreoncom. Backslash Tamara Trotter. That's T-A-M-E-R-A, last name Trotter T-R-O-T-T-E-R, and as little as $10 to $20 per month will help us to expand this podcast even further and also help us to improve our equipment. Thank you so much for being here today and for listening.

Speaker 1: 16:50

If you are contemplating suicide, please do not take your life. Your family and friends will not understand why you have left this world. Even if you stay because you care about other people, stay for them until you can figure out why you should stay for yourself. Remember your life is worth living. You are valuable and someone is waiting for you to succeed so that you can share your rich testimony with them. I will see you next Friday on Win Over Depression. In the meantime, remember giving up is never an option. We must stay in the game of life. Take care.