Embracing Gratitude and How It Can Help You Stay Healthy

Written by:  PROVISION 
The glass is half-empty or the glass is half-full comes down to a matter of perspective, and your perspective can be the difference between gratitude and a bad attitude.  How you see things can lead to you having a great day, a so-so day, or even a bad day.  When it comes to turning your frown upside-down, gratitude is often the best medicine.
Over the past two years, there has been a lot of reason for people to see things from a negative perspective in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic.  Illness, death, isolation, loss of jobs, and  business shutdowns were some of the trials people faced since the pandemic broke out in 2020.  For many people all around the world, these trials sent attitudes spiraling downward and have left people divided on health and social issues as well as a glaring distrust of leaders in government, health, and private sectors.


How can we hope to see things change for the better?  An attitude of gratitude!  When we start to see things from a positive perspective, there will be an impact on our own personal attitudes which can, in turn, have a positive effect on the people around us.


You might ask, “Well, what is there to be so positive about?”  To answer that question, let’s take a look at current statistics.  In the Oct. 26 Epidemiological Update, the WHO said, “Globally, the number of new weekly cases decreased by 15% during the week of 17 to 23 October 2022 as compared to the previous week.”  The number of cases have dropped significantly, and that is something to be thankful for.


According to statistics, in October of 2020, the average number of people around the world dying from COVID-19 every day was 5,929.  In October of 2021, the average number of daily deaths increased to 6,960.  Last month, October of 2022, the average number of daily deaths decreased to 1,427.  That is a huge drop in deaths caused by COVID-19 and another reason to be thankful.


Isolation during the outbreak has had a serious impact on people with some claiming to feel Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms from being isolated.  There are also signs that cases of domestic violence were on the rise during periods of isolation.  Isolation and quarantine are no longer mandated but only suggested, so there’s another reason to be grateful.  Even businesses have returned and the number of joblessness due to the shutdown has decreased and we can show gratitude for that.  


We can choose to stay stuck in the negative, where we focus on all the bad things that COVID-19 has brought on, or we can move forward to better days by being thankful for all that we have, displaying an attitude of gratitude.