Exercise - Gratitude
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Grab a pen and paper or if you have a PC, click here for a printable version of this exercise:
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First of all, it's OK if you're finding it hard to feel grateful since your cancer diagnosis, especially when you're not feeling well.
It's also OK to not feel grateful all the time. Nobody does!
But it's not happiness that makes us grateful.
It’s gratefulness that makes us happy.
There are several benefits of practicing gratitude. It can improve your mental health, your relationships, and even your immune system! Yep, since stress lowers your immunity, improving your mental well-being with gratitude can help your body fight off illness.
Gratitude involves the recognition of positive things in your life and how they affect you.
You can practice gratitude in different ways, like:
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Journaling about what you're grateful for
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Stopping to pay attention to the little things in life
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Telling someone you’re grateful for them or something they did
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Doing something kind for someone else
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Meditating on the positive aspects of your life
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Giving thanks through prayer
Your challenge for the next 10 days is to write down 5 things that you're grateful for each morning. They can be things that made you smile the day before, things you like about your personality or physical appearance, or even simple things like the fact that you have a roof over your head.
Try to come up with different things each day if you can. And if you find yourself feeling frustrated or sad, read over your lists and notice how it improves your mood.
To get started, complete the following sentences and review them daily or a few times a week as a reminder of what you are grateful for.
I feel grateful for _______________
I appreciate _________________
I’m blessed to have _______________
One thing that didn’t suck about today was__________________
What was one positive thing about today? __________________________
What is was thing I appreciate about my efforts today? ___________________________
When I think about______________ I feel ___________________
Since my cancer diagnosis, a few things that have helped me to get by so far include:
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My greatest strengths are:
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