Thank You!
183 ways the world got better
Dear Solution-eers,
Happy New Year!
In December, I traveled to New York City for the first time since the start of the pandemic to meet my co-workers at the Reasons to be Cheerful headquarters, including David Byrne (who’s just as wonderful in person as he is on stage). The Reasons team put together a roundup of the brightest, boldest ways the world improved in 2022: 183 ways the world got better.
I have written 30 of these 183 stories – for example, about the “coral doctor” who helps corals becoming more resilient with probiotics, the world’s fastest drummer, artful safer streets, a solution for food insecurity, and many more.
Despite facing some challenges, I want to start the year with gratitude. I’m grateful to you, my readers and supporters, grateful to the interview partners who opened their hearts and homes to me, and I’m grateful to the Foreign Press Correspondents Association USA for awarding me the Professional Excellence Award 2022-2023 last month in New York.
What are you grateful for? Are you proud of anything you accomplished in 2022?
As we start this year, I want to share with you Maya Angelou’s answer to the question I asked her for my book Bouncing Forward six months before her passing: How do we manage to triumph over adversities?
Angelou’s advice to me was clear-cut: Develop “an attitude of gratitude. I think we have to be grateful,” she told me in her deep, raspy voice. “You could have died last night, you know.” She laughed. Rather than reveling in the injustice and brutality that stamped her life, she chose to focus on the achievements. “If I live my life with self-confidence and kindness and don’t get anything back from that, I’m not overcome.”
And yet, when the going gets rough, it is easy to get downtrodden. Every year, I reflect on what I’m grateful for, and I want to share with you the single best practice to lift our spirit: keep a gratitude journal. Counting our blessings is one of the simplest and most powerful means to throw an anchor in the midst of chaos. Especially when we are walking in the dark, we need to count every star.
What to do
Every day, write down three things you are grateful for.
It could be small things—a kiss, or a ray of sun breaking through the clouds—or big things—a promotion, a good test result, a baby’s first steps.
Jot down the first three things that come to your mind, and then take a minute to reflect on them. What made these moments great? What does this mean to you? Is there something you can do to contribute to this good thing?
Whether you tell your diary or your computer, getting down a tangible reminder of gratitude is important.
“When this becomes a habit, you’ve developed the attitude of gratitude,” says Karen Reivich, a resilience expert at the University of Pennsylvania, who I met when I attended the US Army’s resilience training. “Gratitude journal” sounded too touchy-feely for a bunch of combat guys, so the Army renamed it “Hunt the Good Stuff,” but the exercise is the same. Instead of rehashing the bad stuff, reflect on the good things that are happening.
Why it works
Professor Robert A. Emmons, at the University of California, Davis, “the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude,” scientifically examined the impact of gratitude. Students who kept a gratitude journal for ten weeks not only reported that they were more satisfied, optimistic, and content with their life, but they also had fewer medical symptoms. Follow up studies showed that grateful people get better grades, have more energy, and they even sleep better. In addition, cultivating gratitude improves our mood, and makes us more social and willing to help others.
A feeling of gratitude might not come easily when the world looks bleak. That’s why writing the journal is essential in redirecting our outlook. The gratitude journal gives us a chance to pause to notice the beauty in small moments, acknowledge it, and savor it.
Take it further
You could start a “gratitude challenge” on social media and share what you’re grateful for with others.
Even better, you could actually express your gratitude. Think of a person you are deeply grateful to whom you have never properly thanked. Write a heartfelt, thoughtful letter in which you describe what you are grateful for and how he or she changed your life. Then read the letter to that person, either over the phone or, if possible, in person. People who expressed their gratitude in person showed the largest happiness boost, and it lasted for several weeks.
Thank you, readers!
Wishing you a wonderful 2023 full of happiness and health!
Michaela