What one comes across on the internet is sometimes enlightening…sometimes “not so much.”
I happened across this week an article recommending the four things to do each morning in order to live a long, healthy life. The author named: 1) a cup of coffee; 2) a healthy breakfast (not defined); squats (not specified how many); and 4) saying something positive to the first person you see in the morning. I would label this in the “not so much” category.
People aged 90-101 were interviewed in the village of Italy’s Cilento region, known for the prevalence of people older than 9 in a study reported in Time Magazine in December 2017.
The article quoted a study published in International Psychogeriatrics. “The participants filled out standardized questionnaires and also participated in interviews on topics such as migration, traumatic events and beliefs. Younger family members were also asked their impressions of their older relatives’ personality traits,” the author reported.
What they discovered were common traits: resilience, adaptability, positivity, a strong work ethic, close bonds with family, religion and the countryside. Despite their being less healthy than villagers 51 to 75, their mental health was analyzed as better.
I wondered about the relationship between positivity and gratitude. A description I found in a Psychology Today article in December 2020 described gratitude as a “gateway to positivity.” Consider this as reported by the author:
“Gratitude increases dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain, which serve as key neurotransmitters that give us feelings of contentment. If we are grateful more often, the happiness-producing neural pathways strengthen, just as exercise strengthens the body.”
As you navigate life, may you find many reasons to experience gratitude.
May we be bearers of hope, the “wait staff” of Hope’s Café for each other and all those we encounter. Shalom, Kate
Hope’s Café Bonus: Here are some tips about how to increase gratitude:
Write three things down before bedtime for which you are grateful.
Keep a gratitude journal.
Make a family or personal gratitude jar.
Practice “mental subtraction,” which is to imagine what your life would look like if certain positive events had not occurred.
Take a “gratitude walk” by yourself or with a companion. Think about (or discuss) the things you appreciate about the people, places or things you see along the way.
Write thank you notes. 😊—some suggestions from Johns Hopkins’ Student Wellbeing Blog
Hope's Cafe 