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By now, the mental health benefits of gratitude have been extensively researched and are widely known. Less common, though, are those personal stories of gratitude—about how thankfulness has made a difference in the lives of real people. These stories help to answer questions like:
- What about gratitude can support your journey toward healing and better mental health?
- How, experientially, does gratitude lift your mood?
- When we talk about “practicing gratitude,” what might it look like?
We decided to reach out to Dillon Smith for his insights. Smith, a member of FHE Health’s Alumni Program, is in long-term recovery and credits gratitude as a key part of this success. When we spoke with Smith, it quickly became apparent that there is more than one way to exercise gratitude daily, that a practice of gratitude can be accessible to anyone, and that what it means to show gratitude may not align with more conventional stereotypes….
Introduction to the Impact of Gratitude on Mood
Smith’s introduction to gratitude and its impact on mood “started in treatment” when he began “to find my faith again,” as he put it. That is also when he began to meet “a lot of people, not just the staff at FHE Health but people who were dealing with the same addiction issues.” Their influence helped support a change in outlook and attitude towards things, Smith said.
“When I was in a sober living community,” Smith added, “they always reminded us that gratitude isn’t just saying something, but that your actions must show it. Gratitude is in the actions—not just saying you’re grateful.”
What Gratitude Looks Like: Actions and Service
If gratitude is more about actions than simply saying “thank you,” what does that look like?
“Service is part of it, whether that’s what we do in our personal life or being willing to extend ourselves,” Smith said. “Gratitude can vary vastly as far as the actions of it, but it’s a way of relating to the world differently in a more positive manner.”
Another way to understand gratitude, according to Smith, is “bringing light into situations and to be God’s light in those encounters.”
Gratitude for Mood Improvement
When we asked Smith to share how gratitude had improved his mood and mindset in recovery, he said it had changed how he related to his pain.
“In recovery, we get our emotions back,” Smith explained. “Gratitude allows us to remember the pain of how life was before recovery and that this pain can be a lot worse, were it not for recovery.”
Building Resilience Through a Grateful Mindset – More Positive Effects of Gratitude
By changing how we relate to our pain, gratitude enables a growth mindset by which we can learn to embrace lessons from even the hard things, Smith said. Why is this important? Because a growth mindset can build resilience. The more we’re able to look for the silver lining in the hardest circumstances and be thankful for what we are learning, the more resilient we become.
Practicing Gratitude for Mental Well-Being and Incorporating Gratitude into Daily Life
If practicing gratitude can increase your mental well-being, what are some examples of how to do that, by incorporating gratitude into your daily life?
Mental Well-Being Through Thankfulness
Smith suggested deeds of service and showing kindness as ways to improve well-being through gratitude. For Smith, these small, simple acts of love are tied to his faith and his understanding of God: “God is love, so it’s just practicing love and kindness in any situation.”
“Everyone is different and in different places of their lives, and that also stirs empathy,” Smith added. He went on to describe how, as another extension of gratitude, he strives to be of service in his 12-step group.
Ultimately, though, service can be as simple as “the small things,” Smith said, including “being honest with the intentions behind your actions.”
The Connection Between Gratitude and Positive Psychology
Our conversation with Smith did not involve an explicit discussion of gratitude and positive psychology, but some of his reflections seemed to align.
“Some people don’t believe in a Higher Power, but fear is also a form of belief,” Smith said. “You can either put your energy into something good or something bad, so why put one’s energy into something negative?”
Understood in this sense, gratitude is about putting your energy into what’s good and seeing the gifts that are right in front of us. This can look different for everyone, depending on their circumstances.
At the end of our interview, Smith paused to take a moment to express his gratitude once again—”for all the people I’ve met on this path whose influence has allowed me to sit here and talk to you about it.”
In the end, gratitude is as simple as taking a moment be to be mindful of all the people who have touched our lives in positive ways and inspired us to keep going despite the obstacles.
