08/07/2026
THIS INFORMATION SHARING ARTICLE IS BEING SHARED TO HELP PROVIDE A BIT OF RELIEF FROM THE STRESS OF FAMILY CAREGIVING, PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH OLDER ADULTS, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES OR ANYONE WHO CAN USE A BIT OF STRESS RELIEF. PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH ANYONE WHO MIGHT BENEFIT FROM THESE WISE WORDS. THANK YOU!!
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Gratitude – By Dr. Ron Mottern
In this modern age, everyone suffers from stress. What can we do about it? This week we look at combating stress by building resiliency through gratitude. This includes cultivating gratitude, developing self-gratitude, and practicing self-compassion.
Gratitude falls under skills within the spiritual domain of resiliency. Resiliency is the ability to bounce back from adversity and maybe even learn something from the experience. Resiliency has various domains, much like a car battery has various cells. You must keep your battery’s cells filled with water and you must keep your resiliency battery’s domains, e.g., cognitive, behavioral, physical, emotional, and spiritual, charged, as well. To function at our optimal level, we need to keep our battery charged all the time. The business of everyday life is constantly draining our resiliency reserves, and if we don't replenish them then we won't have them when we really need them. It's a bummer to go out to the barn on a cold and rainy morning to get the tractor for an important task, only to find that the battery in the tractor is dead. Recharging it will take some time. Our resiliency battery is the same. If we let it get drained, then it will take a while for it to recharge. If it isn’t, then we become extremely stressed and lots of bad things happen to us physically and mentally because of that stress.
Below are some things we can do to develop gratitude and keep our resiliency battery charged. Most of these don’t take more than 2-minutes. That’s it. We all can take 2-minutes out of our day to improve our lives. You don’t have to do the same task every day. Mix it up. See what opportunities present themselves and take advantage of them. I challenge you to try these for a month and see how your life has changed.
The 2-Minute Challenge
• Take 2-minutes and write a thank-you note to someone. You can develop gratitude, as well as nurture your relationship with another person, by writing a thank-you note expressing your enjoyment and appreciation of that person's impact on your life. Send it, or better yet, deliver and read it in person if possible. Make a habit of sending at least one gratitude letter a month. Be sure to write one to yourself every once in a while to develop self-gratitude. Only spend 2 minutes writing the note/email/text.
• Thank someone mentally. When developing gratitude, it may help just to think about someone who has done something for you and mentally thank them . Remember that we're working on developing gratitude for ourselves, i.e., self-gratitude. While actually thanking the other person may have the added benefit of improving our relationships, which also reduces stress, just acknowledging gratitude is sufficient for my own growth. Take 2-minutes to do this.
• Keep a gratitude journal. Make it a daily habit to spend 2 minutes writing down 3 positive things someone has done for you. You may also spend 2-minutes writing down something positive you've experienced in the last 24 hours. If you already journal, another good stress management technique, you may include this as a part of the journaling routine. Be specific and think about the sensations you felt when these things happened to you.
• Pray. If you are religious, you can use prayer to cultivate gratitude. While you may pray more than 2-minutes, use at least 2-minutes of your prayer time to express gratitude to your Higher Power.
• Meditate. Practice at least 2-minutes of mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. The classic definition of mindfulness is paying attention on purpose. It is possible to focus on what you're grateful for, e.g., the warmth of the sun, a pleasant sight, sound, the companionship of a friend, etc.
You may also use mantra meditation, focusing on a word or phrase and repeating it to yourself. I once did a presentation in Austin where someone asked me how this might be used in a hospice situation where the family was becoming agitated when the patient started actively passing. I suggested that you could ask them how they would like their loved one to transition, with sounds of a quarreling family, or with peace and harmony. If the latter, then have them stand around their loved one and repeat, out loud and together, a word like "peace," "love," saying the Lord’s Prayer, etc.
While you may receive greater benefits from practicing these skills for periods longer than 2-minutes, that 2-minutes is all you need to begin receiving benefits. Shorter periods of time done with consistency are better than longer periods done sporadically. That is, 2-minutes a day is better than 15 minutes three times a week.
Also falling under gratitude is the development of self-compassion. One way to develop self-compassion is to have a reason for being, a concept the Japanese call, ikigai. But we'll save that for another time!
Dr. Ron Mottern
Mottern Institute for Mind-Body Wellness
www.MotternInstitute.org
