Gratitude is one of those things that I really focus on in my life. I feel like November is gratitude month. However, I like to think every day is a day to feel thankful and grateful for my life. Even when I’m exhausted. Even when I want time to myself. Even when I say that my job is endless. I still sometimes think that I need to pinch myself because with Seth, I have created the life that I dreamed of. I didn’t dream of an easy life! I didn’t say it is easy every day. Some days my ten-year-old makes me want to scream. I live in a place of gratitude even in those moments.

What exactly is the science behind gratitude is what I wanted to learn for myself. I knew it was important, but before I researched it, I didn’t realize how important it really is. If you look up gratitude, gratitude is one of the biggest ways to feel happiness in your life. Gratitude leads to our brain releasing dopamine and serotonin which are the neurotransmitters that make us feel really good. They are the feel-good neurotransmitters. You are wiring your brain to be happy every time that you feel gratitude.

Gratitude is responsible for:

  • Increased happiness.
  • Improving our health / stronger immune systems.
  • Helping us to deal with difficulties and being more resilient.
  • Helping us to build relationships / being kinder and more generous.
  • Gives us more energy.
  • Helps us to feel more fulfilled.
  • Gives us more positive emotions.
  • Helps us sleep better.
  • Increase in self-esteem.
  • Lower stress and anxiety.
  • Better Career – more productive, better decision making, better networking.
  • Better finances.
  • Being more mindful and present in the moment.

How can we build gratitude into our everyday lives?

  • Sandwich your whole day with gratitude. Make it how you start your day and end your day.
  • Have a gratitude journal that you write in every day.
  • Make it a point to express gratitude daily to your spouse, children, friends, coworkers, boss, etc.
  • Make it a point to focus on it every day. What we focus on happens and expands.
  • Meditate daily with a gratitude purpose in mind.
  • Look for things all day to be grateful for.
  • Look for silver linings in every situation.
  • Look outward vs. inward. People who focus on other people instead of themselves tend to be more grateful.

When I pictured talking to you about gratitude, I wanted to sincerely thank every single person who reads this blog, watches the vlog, listens or watches the podcast, comments on posts, is a member of the Facebook group, etc. I feel really blessed to get to do all of this with you. I am going to share my husband’s post from Facebook that made me cry:

Seth Greene speaks:

I want to take a minute and give my shout out to my wonderful wife Rebecca Greene

I think that in honor of her Nike should change their slogan from just do it,

to “do it anyway.”

About 10 years ago it was suggested to my wife that instead of just writing for herself as a coping strategy, she should turn into a weekly blog. She said she had three little kids, she didn’t have time and couldn’t guarantee that she would write every week depending on what was going on,

and didn’t have time to do it.

She did it anyway and Whinypaluza was born.

Less than a year later she was named one of the top hundred mommy bloggers in the country.

It was suggested that she go live every week on Facebook and talk about what she wrote about, because some people want to read it, while some people want to watch it live and see her. She said didn’t have time. She did it anyway. She’s now over 2.5 million video views on Facebook.

I told her we should turn her blog into a book and publish the book. She said she didn’t have time. We did it anyway. The book hit number one on Amazon the day it came out.

I told her about two years ago she should start doing a podcast, interviewing other marriage and parenting experts every week, who she and her audience could learn from. She said there was no way she had time on top of the blog and live videos every week to also do a podcast. We did it anyway.

She is about to celebrate her two hundredth episode and she’s reached over 100,000 people with her podcast.

I suggested to her about a month ago that we should do a live Whinypaluza parenting and marriage summit / conference as a multi-day online event. She said there is no way she had time to do all of that.

We’re doing it anyway and hopefully we will see you on the Whinypaluza summit in January.

I’d just like to give a shout out to my amazing wife who keeps being blessed with more ways to help more people and inspires me every single day. I think I’m going to change my personal mantra to “just do it anyway.”

 

I can’t express the amount of gratitude that I felt when I read this post from my husband. First, he has such a way with words. He makes me feel so appreciated. Isn’t that what we all want? To feel loved and appreciated. He also put into words everything that I have been working on over the last ten years. It feels really good to see it on paper. I am so thankful for this opportunity to do work that I am proud of from home while still being available for my children. I am so thankful that I get to help people and that Seth and I keep thinking of more ways that I can do it.

I’m thankful for so many things!

  • My wonderful husband.
  • My fabulous kids.
  • Our parents and all our extended family.
  • Our friends.
  • My job and the whole Whinypaluza community.
  • Seth’s businesses.
  • Seth’s employees/ team.
  • Our house.
  • Our cars.
  • My kids schools and teachers.
  • All our clothes.
  • Plentiful food.
  • I could go on and on.

I heard someone say that if you can’t think of anything to be grateful for, then be thankful that you are breathing. That leads me to our health and safety, which I am most thankful for.

I play this game with myself every day and it has helped me immensely. You know that I work on my thoughts every day. When I say something negative, I work on flipping it from sour lemons in my brain to delicious lemonade, and I am going to give you some examples:

Change – “There are so many dishes!” to, “I am so thankful for all the meals that I provide for my family.”

Change – “Who wears all these clothes? Why is there so much laundry?” to, “I am so thankful that we have all of these clothes to wear.”

Change – “My job is endless. These kids are thankless,” to, “I am so blessed with three healthy kids who keep me really busy.”

Change – “I hate this cold weather,” to, “I am so thankful for the heat and blankets in my home to keep me warm.”

Change – “I have to go to the grocery store again,” to, “I am so grateful that we can afford all of this food.”

Change – “I am tired of driving these kids around,” to, “I am thankful for my car, and the gas in my car so that I can drive my family around. I am thankful that I am available to do this for them. I am thankful for all of these activities for my children that I can afford to pay for.”

Change, “I am exhausted,” to, “I am so thankful that I have such a busy and full life.”

You may think that this is silly, but it helps me all day long. I have these thoughts just like you do. I play the flip game with myself all day to be thankful all day long. It’s your turn. Play the game with me and let’s work on being grateful all day long. It will give you a happier and healthier life. Go to the Whinypaluza Mom free Facebook group to play the flip game with me this month. I will choose the best flip for a prize.

Gratitude is a superpower that can enrich all our lives. Go work on flexing your gratitude muscle.

Wishing you and your families a very blessed Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for all of you.

Laughing, Learning, Loving, and feeling so thankful,

Rebecca Greene, LCSW-R

Whinypaluza Notes:

Whinypaluza Mom Group:

If you are looking for a supportive community, come join the free Whinypaluza Mom Facebook group.  I created this as I wanted us to have a place where we can talk about tips, strengths and challenges we are having.  It is another step I took to help everyone to know that you are not alone. Come do a flip challenge with me in the group. Come join us and bring a friend with you! I love to give away prizes!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/whinypaluzamoms

The Whinypaluza Schedule:

Whinypaluza Wednesdays: My weekly blog comes out every Wednesday.  I am always open to your topic requests.  A new Vlog (video blog) also comes out every Wednesday night on Facebook and You Tube live at 9:00 PM to discuss the blog.  If you would rather listen to a podcast than watch a Vlog, you can wait for the following Wednesday and the Vlog is released on my Podcast.

Family Fridays: Every Friday morning a new Podcast is released.  Most of my episodes on Fridays are me discussing parenting and marriage with experts on the topic.  If you would rather watch the Podcast instead of listen, you can watch it on You Tube.  If you would like to be on my Podcast or know someone who would like to please message me on Facebook or Instagram or at whinypaluzamom@gmail.com

I would so greatly appreciate it if you would subscribe, rate my Podcast and leave me a five star review.  This leads to it being shown to more people that we can help. I so appreciate when you share my blogs, vlogs and podcasts with a friend so that we can build our community and help people one mama at a time. Every time you like and/or comment on a post it helps Whinypaluza!

Please feel free to email me with suggestions for topics that you would like for me to cover. I would also love to hear about any lessons or takeaways that you learned from blogs, vlogs or podcasts that Whinypaluza releases. This is all for you (it helps me too), and I hope that you are finding it helpful and seeing that you are never alone. We are in this parenting and marriage thing together. xoxo