Wholeness Loving with ~ Heart Soul Mind Strength

Focus Scripture Deuteronomy 6 New International Version (NIV) 4 Hear, O Israel: The L ORD our God, the L ORD is one. 5 Love the L ORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Now take some time to think of a person. They should be someone who was influential in your life. Once you have your person write down as much as you can about them and why they were so important to you.

The Benefits of Gratitude “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” -Marcus Tullius Cierceo

Reach More Goals Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based)” than those who did not. #1

#2 Improved Health The Study also showed physical changes; the authors reported those keeping gratitude journals exercised more regularly and reported fewer physical symptoms.

#3 Better Sleep = More Energy The study included a group of adults with neuromuscular disease who underwent a “gratitude intervention” for 3 weeks. Afterward, participants reported improvement in both how much and how well they slept.

#4 Stronger Love Life According to the authors, feeling of indebtedness showed engagement and commitment externally, but “gratitude had uniquely predictive power in relationship promotion, perhaps acting as a booster shot for the relationship.

#5 Support Others Participants in the daily gratitude condition were more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or having offered emotional support to another, relative to the hassles or social comparison condition.

#6 Increase out Likability Gratitude generates social capital – in two studies with 243 total participants, those who were 10% more grateful than average had 17.5% more social capital.