Looking at life through the lens of thankfulness can improve your physical and mental health. In fact, regardless of the circumstances around you, simply taking the time to appreciate the good things in life can significantly change your perspective and give you a more positive outlook.

Gratitude is a worthwhile practice for people of all ages, but can be especially helpful for seniors seeking to maintain independence and longevity. Reflecting upon many years of blessings sharpens the mind while boosting the spirit. In fact, the National Council on Aging recommends gratitude and mindfulness as a key part of aging well. 

The Benefits of Thankfulness

Ready to start living a happier, healthier life? Focusing on what you have to be thankful for can offer the following benefits:

• Shift your focus away from negative emotions. It’s easy to get caught up in annoyance, disappointments, and calamities in life, but negativity is not a healthy place for your mind to dwell for too long. Once you’ve acknowledged a gripe or difficulty, try looking for a silver lining, factors that keep it from being worse, or ways you’ve grown through the experience. If all else fails, change your mental subject entirely to something you love and appreciate to help boost your mood.

• Help you enjoy life more. Once you’ve decided to be thankful for one thing, it becomes easier to view daily life as being full of previously unnoticed gifts and joys. When you are mindful about remembering to revel in positive moments, you will enjoy even small things more than you used to, like a perfect cup of tea or unexpected piece of mail.

• Have a positive effect on other people. When you convey an appreciative attitude and remember to thank people for their efforts, it can make their day a little brighter and even motivate them to do more. If there are witnesses to your gratitude, others may be inspired to be kinder and more thankful themselves.

• Improve your overall physical health. You might be surprised to learn that a positive outlook can help to reduce your stress, which in turn keeps you physically healthier. Having a thankful attitude can improve your sleep quality and has potential to reduce physical ailments like headaches, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory infections, and more.

• Improve your overall mental health. Practicing thoughts and acts of gratitude not only boosts your mood in the short term, but can lead to better mental health in the long term. It can also make you more resilient in the face of life’s challenges by improving your self-esteem, focus, and patience.

Ways To Feel More Thankful

There are plenty of ways to be grateful for the resources you have and things that have gone well in your life—and you’ll feel better for it. Here are just a few practices to help you enjoy a more positive perspective:

• Spend time with someone you love and say “thank you” in person.
• Send a thank-you note.
• Ask others what they appreciate.
• Volunteer. You’ll learn to appreciate the daily things you may take for granted.
• Take a moment each day to reflect on your blessings.
• Keep a gratitude journal.
• Meditate on scriptures like Psalm 107:8-9: “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”
• Pray.

Live a Thankful Life With Chapel Pointe

Chapel Pointe is a faith-based continuing care retirement community (CCRC). We commit each day to serving and enhancing the quality of life for people aged 62+ in Central Pennsylvania. We’re honored that our greater community sees the servant-heart of our nonprofit organization and consistently selects Chapel Pointe as “The Best of Cumberland County.”

Nestled in eight beautifully landscaped acres in Carlisle, PA, our welcoming campus is filled with interesting places to explore and amenities that make life easy and enjoyable. Bird-watch from the gazebo, take a quiet moment in the chapel, curl up with a book in the library, join a friend for coffee in the sunroom, use the free internet in the café, take the shuttle to town, or just pull up a chair on the porch for a chat.

Since the beginning, our team's mission has been to ensure that every resident is treated with love and the utmost respect. Experiencing our core values—trust, integrity, faith, service, and innovation—lived out every day at Chapel Pointe reassures seniors that they are making the right decision by welcoming us into their lives. Contact us to learn more about our community or support our mission by making a donation today!