When you’re in the middle of a polar vortex and Minnesota is feeling more like Antarctica, but without the penguins, it can be hard to find room for gratitude in your heart. That’s why practicing gratitude daily is important, so it becomes a habit in your life. When you’re stuck on the side of the road, what you should be grateful for is the last thing to cross your mind most of the time. You’re worried about how much money the damages to your car are going to cost or how late you are going to be to work. Take a minute, and try to come up with three things to be grateful for. Are you grateful for the passerby that stopped to check you were OK? How about being grateful for the tow truck who is coming to help you? Maybe, you’re just grateful you didn’t get hurt.

Practicing gratitude has more benefits then you realize. Feeling cynical repeatedly in your life can lead to negative outcomes like depression, which is linked to poor heart health, more inflammation, and a weakened immune response according to American Heart Association. Having a gloomy outlook on life can lead to “negativity bias”. Negativity bias is when your brain focuses in on your negative feelings in the hopes of trying to avoid the pain in the future, but it becomes an unfavorable habit. To balance out this habit, that everyone naturally has, we all need to practice gratitude.

American Heart Association states, “Clinical trials indicate that the practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting effects in a person’s life. It can lower blood pressure and improve immune function… grateful people engage in more exercise, have better dietary behaviors, are less likely to smoke and abuse alcohol, and have higher rates of medication adherence.” Wow, gratitude is great! You’re probably wondering how you can get started. It’s simple, you can write down three to five things you’re grateful for every day, once a week, or even once a month. Or just make a mental list, no pen or paper required. It’s all up to you. Maybe you want to take up a “thankful table time” routine. This could be going around the table and taking turns saying three things you’re appreciative for during mealtime. Not only does this spark thankfulness, but it gets conversation going.

Want to be an expert in gratefulness? You can try practicing gratitude from the HEART: Health, Eat, Activity, Relationship, and Time. What about your health are you most grateful for? What foods or meals are you most appreciative for? Is there an activity you did today that you are thankful for? Is there a relationship that made you smile from ear to ear? Today is a new day, be thankful for the gift of time. Personally, this winter season I am extremely grateful for my automatic car starter, warm coffee, my cozy blanket, and well, at least I don’t have to mow the lawn!

For more information on this topic you can refer to these great resources: www.heart.org and www.bouncebackproject.org.