GRatitude
Bio
Larisa Madison was born and raised on Long Island, New York. Before moving to Florida, she attended Quinnipiac University where she got her undergraduate degree in Business Entrepreneurship. Upon moving to Florida, Larisa obtained three Master degrees in Exercise Science, Nutrition, and Positive Psychology. She is currently in the process of becoming a licensed Mental Health Counselor at Wake Forest University. As a certified Health and Wellness Coach and a Positive Psychology Specialist, Larisa helps her clients find the motivation and tools they need to improve their overall lives.
Larisa’s passion for Positive Psychology has inspired the creation of her most successful program, Boditude. Boditude is based on the fundamentals of positive psychology, in which instead of denying the negatives or difficulties in life (because we all know that life can be hard!), it highlights the good in life by focusing on shifting perspectives, reframing thoughts, and changing small daily behaviors. Larisa’s passion, dedication, and commitment to making a significant difference in the lives of others shines through in everything she does and everyone she works with.
The Article
The Power of Gratitude
“It’s not happy people who you are thankful. It’s thankful people who you are happy.”
Gratitude is a topic that often comes up during the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. We’re encouraged to spend the day thinking about what we’re thankful for…besides the turkey! While it’s great that we have a holiday dedicated to being thankful, gratitude is something that should be embedded into everyday life, becoming a lifestyle rather than something we conjure up during the holidays or only when something good happens to us.
Gratitude is a force and a state of being. It has been conceptualized as “an emotion, a virtue, a moral sentiment, a motive, a coping reponse, a skill, and an attitude. It is all of these and more” (Emmons, & Crumpler, 2000). Cultivating gratitude on a daily basis, not only in response to something good happening, receiving a gift, or avoiding an issue may be one of the most overlooked tools that we all have access to.
So, what exactly does “cultivating gratitude” mean? It simply means having an attitude of gratitude, consciously appreciating our blessings and the gift of life itself. When we are truly thankful, not only do we feel different, we think and act differently. As a result, we start to see differences in how we live and approach life.
Cultivating and practicing gratitude doesn’t take much time, but the benefits are endless. Some of these benefits include:
Strenghtening of relationships: the more you appreciate and acknowledge the people your life, the more they will appreciate and acknowledge you.
Improvement of both physical and psychological health: the more you are grateful for your health, the more likely you are to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally.
Improves self-esteem: the more you appreciate yourself and who you are, you’ll be less likely to compare yourself to other people.
Increases mental strength: the more you practice being grateful, the more resilient you will become, reframing difficulties into opportunities for growth and strength.
Implementing gratitude into your life starts with the decision and the choice to do so. Here are some ways to start adopting an attitude of gratitude into your life:
Gratitude Journal: start with writing down 10 blessings in your life each day. Think about why you are thankful for them and how your life would be different without them.
Gratitude Letter: write someone you love a note, letting them know why you appreciate them and the difference they make in your life. Writing this letter is for you, to cultivate your emotion of gratitude. However, imagine the feeling of actually giving this person your letter… it is highly recommended to do so!
Mindful Moments: look around! Take a moment to notice where you are, the people you’re with, and all that you have. Take it all in – smile, and realize the blessings you have all around you, every single day.
Essentially, cultivating and practicing gratitude comes down to what we choose to focus on. Every minute of every hour of every day we make a choice. A choice to focus on what we have or what we don’t have, the positive or the negative, the love or the hate. The choice is yours.
Emmons, R.A., Crumpler, C.A. (2000). Gratitude as a human strength: Appraising the evidence. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 19(1), 56-69. doi:10.1521/jscp.2000.19.1.56