With the holiday season just around the corner, now is the perfect time to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Research has revealed a strong link between a positive, grateful mindset and physically healthier bodies – including cardiovascular benefits, elevated mental health and a boosted immune system. Learning to practice gratitude leads to longer-lasting feelings of contentment and positivity, in turn enriching your life and giving it deeper meaning.
Here are a few simple ways you can develop an attitude of gratitude:
- Hit pause: With our whirlwind schedules, it’s easy to get caught up and lose sight of what’s truly important. Taking the time to pause, look up and acknowledge all have to be grateful for can have a major positive impact on our well-being. Being mindful and present is a skill that can be learned and strengthened through practice. Over time, this process becomes more constant and its results more distinguishable.
- Count your blessings: Focusing on what you have rather than what you want can help shift your mindset into an attitude of gratitude. This practice will help you realize the goodness in your life and allow you to keep proper perspective. Keeping this physical log can also be helpful to revisit in trying times to ground yourself and keep positive.
- Express and encourage: Gratitude is contagious. A simple act of kindness, like holding the door open for the stranger after you, can have a pay-it-forward ripple effect in your community. Encourage others to adopt an attitude of gratitude and be intentional about sharing how your new mindset has changed your life with those around you.
To take your attitude of gratitude the extra mile, here are some local opportunities to give back to the Canton community:
- SERV International (3145 Marietta Highway, Canton): This nonprofit uses food as a catalyst to transform the lives of people at risk due to famine, poverty and natural disasters. At a local level, SERV hosts monthly pack-outs to assemble 800 to 1000 food boxes that are designed to feed a family of four for a week. For just $35 a month, you can sponsor a family in the Canton community to alleviate hunger here at home. For more information, visit https://servone.org/.
- Cherokee Children’s Haven (1083 Marietta Highway, Canton): The mission of The Children’s Haven is to promote the health and happiness of children impacted by abuse. Volunteers are trained and empowered to ensure that a child can have the opportunity to build a bright and promising future. Can you assist in keeping facilities beautiful, clean, and fun? Bless someone with your cooking? Lend a hand at an event? For more information on ways to give locally, visit https://cherokeechildrenshaven.org/ways-to-give/.
- Cherokee County Animal Shelter (131 Chattin Drive, Canton): Cherokee County Animal Shelter is committed to providing superior service to both the animals and citizens of Canton through work at the shelter, education, and an outreach program. Only with the help of our exceptional community can the goal of eradicating the need for “sheltering” be reached by reducing the number of homeless animals and dangers to any animals in Cherokee County. For more information on volunteer opportunities, including the Read to Me program for younger “Shelter Friends”, visit http://cherokeega-animals.org/volunteer.html.
Being grateful for every opportunity and challenge has the power to transform your life as well as the lives of those around you. Embrace an attitude of gratitude and give back to the Canton community this holiday season and beyond!
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