Science Says Practice Thanksgiving Every Day If You Want to Be Happier, Healthier, and Less Stressed

Around the U.S. today, millions of Americans will be celebrating Thanksgiving with their families. Some families may even take time to express what they’re thankful for right now.

But what if you took time more often to do just that—to identify, acknowledge, and appreciate what you have to be thankful for? How might it affect your mental state and well-being?

Research shows quite a bit.

For example, a 2005 study led by psychologist Martin Seligman, found that spending five to ten minutes each day writing about things that went well in their lives increased happiness in participants for six months.

In a similar study in 2003 led by University of California, Davis Professor of Psychology Robert A. Emmons, researchers found that participants who kept brief lists of things they were grateful for, either daily or weekly, had a more positive outlook and appraisal of life, spent more time exercising, and had fewer physical ailments.

And this year, a meta-analysis of 145 studies from 28 countries found that gratitude interventions resulted in small but reliable increases in well-being.

There are scientific reasons why this practice works.

For one, research shows that we suffer from what we could call a “negativity bias.” Of course, we all have negative experiences. But we tend to remember negative events much more than positive ones.

“Our view of the world has a fundamental tendency to tilt toward the negative,” says University of California, Davis Psychology Professor Alison Ledgerwood in her popular TED talk, Getting Stuck in the Negatives (and How to Get Unstuck). “It’s pretty easy to go from good to bad, but far harder to shift from bad to good. We literally have to work harder to see the upside of things.”

So, how do you get unstuck?

Here is where journaling comes in. When you start a regular journaling or list-making practice of what you’re thankful for, you train the brain to start appreciating those positive moments. You strengthen neural pathways so that you do this more often.

The result? Yes, you gradually change your default mindset. You cultivate a “attitude of gratitude” with real-world benefits, like higher well-being and even lowering of physical ailments.

Ok, you say. I’ll give it a try. But where do I start?

Here are three reflection questions to help:

• What am I grateful for?
• What do I have today that I would have begged for years ago?
• What do I have today that my 85-year-old self would beg to have back?

Now, put a recurring appointment in your calendar. In the beginning, you might try doing this daily. You can cycle through these questions one at a time, a single question each day.

Do this for at least a month, or longer if you can, and you may find that you’ve established a new habit, one that empowers you to think more positively, and to live a happier and healthier life.

And that too is something to be thankful for.

(Sign up for free emotional intelligence course for more tips and tools like these.)

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