Appreciation Can Save Your Sanity

I've talked about appreciation and gratitude before, and when I was in college I studied a little about its health benefits, but recently I found this great concise and convincing list. (I found this list in What Happy Working Mothers Know, and they referenced the info from What Happy Companies Know by Dan Baker & Cathy Greenberg and The HeartMath Institute)

• Positive attitudes in heart patients increase survival by 20% after 11 years.
• Positive talk between couples reduces stress by 15%, negative talk increases stress by 48%
• Appreciation reduces physical symptoms and medications, improves hormone balance, and increases production of antibodies.
• Appreciation syncs heart and mind, improves auditory discrimination, spatial awareness, and short and long-term memory.
• Thoughts and even subtle emotions influence the activity and balance of the nervous system, which interact with our digestive, cardiovascular, immune and hormonal systems.
• Negative reactions like panic and anger create disorder and imbalance in the nervous system.
• Positive feelings like gratitude create increased order and balance in the nervous system, which results in overall increased body and brain balance and function.

So the next time you're feeling stressed about something, think about something you're grateful for. It's better for your body, your overall well-being and it will help you to think more clearly.