Day 21 - Issue 26
1 Chronicles 16:34 NLT
'Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.'
When I started broadcasting with Premier Christian Radio, I was told to smile as I greeted my listeners. Sceptical, I obeyed, and found it warmed and softened my greeting. Smiling is good for us. Experiments show that a smile, even a forced one, slows our heart rate and reduces stress. Smiling triggers the mirror neurons in others and most often provokes a smile in response. In fact, smiling might help all of us destress and create a happier society.
Perhaps that’s why the Bible speaks eloquently of gratitude (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). So, how to be grateful when I am confronted with disappointment and anxiety? The first thing is to pause and focus. Anxiety generates stress so, while it may feel forced, begin with a smile. Research has demonstrated that it only takes a short period for even a forced smile to make us feel happy.
I do this by using some deep breathing to oxygenate my blood and slow me down. Deep breathing, just listening to my breath, breathing from my stomach and not my chest is a natural way to calm anxiety and fear. I relax. My next move is to verbalise all that I have to be grateful for – a roof over my head, the fact that I ate yesterday and can again today, and the clothes I have and the family and friends I can talk with. The list goes on. Expressing my gratitude shifts my mind away from concentrating on what I don’t have.
Then, and all the while I ensure I have a smile upon my lips, I state why I’m grateful to God. This can be a challenge, for in some ways I want to hold God responsible for the state I’m in. Yet, scapegoating, or laying the blame for my situation on someone else, is only ever avoidance of taking responsibility for my own situation. Slowly but surely, I heal the damage a lack of gratitude will do to my body. I agree with God, giving thanks for God is good.
QUESTION: What are you grateful for?
PRAYER: ‘I count my many blessings, I name them one by one, I count my many blessings, I see what God has done.’ (Adapted from the hymn ‘Count your blessings’ by Johnson Oatman Jr, 1856-1922.)
