Where Can I Get Some of That Gratitude?

1. Oh to Bee Grateful. 

Gratitude has been in short supply around TNSB World Headquarters lately.  Ascribe it to whatever you want – the election, climate change, the decline in the global bee population  – but our feelings of good will have been replaced by a sense that not all is right in the world. That is a shame, because new research is consistently showing that experiencing gratitude can have a positive impact on health and life expectancy. 

In July, researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Health released the results of a new study that found that gratitude has a specific, measurable effect on longevity. The research drew on data from 49,275 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study, one of the longest on-going latitudinal health studies in the United States. The average age of the participants in this particular group was 79. In 2016, the participants completed a six-item gratitude questionnaire in which they ranked their agreement with statements such as, "I have so much in life to be thankful for", and, "If I had to list everything I felt grateful for, it would be a very long list". 

Four years later, researchers combed through participants' medical records to determine who had died and who had not. Even after controlling for relevant factors such as physical health, economic status, and mental condition, the researchers found that participants with gratitude scores in the highest third at the study's start had a 9% lower risk of dying over the period than participants who scored in the bottom third. 

It's a meaningful difference, and it reflects the fact that gratitude can affect everything from emotional to social well-being to sleep quality to depression risks.   

2. Where Can I Get Some of That Gratitude?

When the world seems to be falling down around you, the idea of finding gratitude may seem a little remote. But there are proven practices – as well as endless tips on the internet – on how to be grateful even in uncertain times. Here are a few of them: 

From our friends at the Lifestyle Medicine Program at Stanford: 

• Start a Gratitude Journal and dedicate at least 15 minutes a day, three days a week to work on your journal. Record 5 things that you are grateful for and be specific, as details will support the practice. 
• Mindful meditation has been shown to reduce stress, inflammation and improve sleep quality.  You can start by meditating for only 10 minutes a day, according to experts at Stanford.  
• Stanford’s Bruce Feldstein recommends spending 10 minutes at the end of each day contemplating four questions: 
• What surprised me today? 
• What touched me today? 
• What inspired me today? 
• For what am I grateful?

And if these ideas don’t do it for you, just google “gratitude practices”, and you will have an internet full of choices, including the gratitude garden, the gratitude jar, the gratitude flower, and even the gratitude rock. 

3. We Watch So You Don't Have To, Week 8.

And we are grateful that this is the next to last time that we will have to write about the Golden Bachelorette, at least until the next season. It’s the small things that count. 

To be fair though, the “Men Tell All” episode is one of our favorites of the season. At bottom, it’s a clip show designed by ABC to soak up more ad dollars from the same amount of production, but the show reminded us that the relationships among the men have often been far more compelling television than the interactions with Joan. Many of the men confessed to being lonely and socially isolated before the show, joining up on the belief that finding a mate would be the remedy. Instead, they found genuine affection and support with each other and have forged bonds that seem likely to survive the end of the season.   

There is, of course, lots of network airbrushing going on. We would bet there was a certain amount of tension inherent in throwing together 24 strangers unused to sharing space into what essentially was a fancy bunk house. But, skillful editing can turn squabbles into comedy gold. Pascal’s refusal to help with cleaning, cooking or any communal tasks? The endearing foibles of the French. And perhaps the most awkward scene of the season, when the men refused to sing Captain Kim’s horrible “We Are the Mansion Men” song with him? Bring in the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles to sing it on stage and the whole thing becomes a beautiful reminiscence. But that’s our quibble. At bottom, there is genuine affection among the mansion men, with the camaraderie of the men filling real holes in their lives. 

And if there is any news from Episode 8, it is the strong hint that Charles L. will be the next Golden Bachelor. If you are not familiar with Charles L., he is a 66-year-old retired financial analyst from Pennsylvania who has become a huge fan favorite this season, and a mini-celebrity in his own right. In an awkwardly choreographed scene, a “fan” from the live audience stood up to declare that all of Bachelor Nation wants Charles L. to be the next Golden Bachelor, a claim that was greeted with joy by the audience, the internet, and we’re guessing network executives as well.  We’re betting that we have not seen the last of Charles L, and perhaps sooner than we would like, 24 Golden Bachelorettes will be competing for his affection.   

Next week, Joan finds love (or not). And we will be there to report on it.