A Gratitude Experiment: Counting Blessings

Benefits of Gratitude

Gratitude makes a difference in the lives of those who choose to embrace it and express it. Dr. Robert Emmons, one of the world’s leading experts on gratitude, summarizes its benefits in “Why Gratitude is Good.” These benefits include:

Physical

• Stronger immune systems
• Less bothered by aches and pains
• Lower blood pressure
• Exercise more and take better care of their health
• Sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking

Psychological

• Higher levels of positive emotions
• More alert, alive, and awake
• More joy and pleasure
• More optimism and happiness

Social

• More helpful, generous, and compassionate
• More forgiving
• More outgoing
• Feel less lonely and isolated.

Reading this list, you might feel a bit skeptical. It seems almost too good to be true. But solid scientific research supports Emmons’s claims. (See for example the 2015 article published by the University of California Medical Center: “Gratitude is good medicine.”) If you wish, you can participate in a gratitude experiment on your own. The good news is that it doesn’t require sophisticated equipment. All you need is a writing instrument and something to write in, such as a diary or journal. Or, if you prefer you can use your favorite digital technology.

Here is one common gratitude experiment you can try. The positive effect of this exercise has been demonstrated in dozens of research efforts throughout the world. Of course, everyone does not respond in the same way or to the same extent. But, on average, people who engage in this exercise experience a measurable change in well-being.

A Gratitude Experiment: Counting Your Blessings Once a Week

Instructions

• Once each week, set aside fifteen minutes or so (longer if you wish) to write down five “blessings” from the last week. Write them in a diary or journal, something you will hang onto. Blessings are good things that happened to you for which you were not mainly responsible. “My car is shiny because I washed it” is not a blessing. “My car is shiny because my wife washed it” is a blessing. (This is an actual blessing from my last week!).You will get more from this exercise if you are thoughtful about your blessings. Take some time to think through your last week and what went well in it. You don’t have to write a lot. Note what happened and why it made a difference to you.
• Keep up this exercise for ten weeks. By the end of that time, you should have recorded fifty blessings. It’s okay if some are repetitive. Though not required in the academic research on a gratitude journal, you might certainly choose to thank God for the blessings you received each week. You might even write your blessing in the form of a prayer of thanks, such as: “Lord, I thank you that Linda washed my car. That was such a kind thing for her to do.”
• At the end of the ten weeks, you may want to read through your journal to remember your many blessings. But, whether you do so or not, pay attention to how you’ve been feeling. Throughout the duration of this experiment, did you feel different? better than usual? worse? hopeful? energized? or . . . ?

Notes

I did not invent the Counting Your Blessings experiment. It is based on research conducted by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough. See their article, “Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life,”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2003, Vol. 84, No. 2, 377–389.