‘Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together’
Long before Will Arnett became the voice of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials, the candy was famous for a series of ads in which someone walking along with a jar of peanut butter collides with someone walking along with a chocolate bar (here’s a version with less walking but more gravity). Accusations of wrongdoing are soon flying—until, that is, both parties realize that peanut butter and chocolate are a great combination.
We bring up this retro ad campaign because in this blog entry we want to talk about two things that are each good on their own—and that can be even better when they are combined. The combination we have in mind won’t provide a delicious sugar rush, but it just might provide ongoing support for your mental health.
That combination is gratitude and action. Let’s look at those two things one at a time and then together.
The Importance of Gratitude to Mental Health
A spirit of gratitude can provide a firmer foundation for your overall mental health. When we take the time to reflect on things for which we are grateful, we remind ourselves of the good in our lives. That can be a wonderful way to counterbalance the many challenges we all face every day. Whether you call it counting your blessings or stopping to smell the roses or what have you, a daily practice of reflecting on the good things in life can be a powerful way to keep the positive aspects of your life in the forefront of your mind.
One way to do this is through a gratitude journal. We have written before about the value of various kinds of journaling—and a gratitude journal is among our favorite options. The most common approach to keeping a gratitude journal involves jotting down three things each day for which you feel grateful. They can be things that happened that very day or they can be things that you are more generally grateful for. Repetition is just fine; it is the steady practice that truly matters. But over time, you may find that you get better at identifying the various moments that spark a little joy or help you move toward a goal—moments that you may have missed in the past.
The Importance of Action to Mental Health
Sometimes, a gratitude journal can start to fill up with things for which you are appropriately grateful, but which are fairly passive. You might, for example, find that your day’s list includes thankfulness for a meal someone prepared for you, a kind comment from a coworker, and an easy commute. Again, it is absolutely appropriate to be thankful for those things. But it can also be helpful to your mental health to make note of actions you took that led to good results—for yourself, for others, or both.
You might think of it as an action journal, and it might follow a model very similar to a gratitude journal. Each day, you can write down three things that you did that made a positive difference. Those can be big or small and—as in a gratitude journal—repetition is just fine. Your action list might include eating lunch away from your desk, talking with a friend going through a difficult time, and setting a limit for your daily time spent on social media. Noting those actions can help you remember the ways in which you can take active steps toward better mental health.
Gratitude and Action Go Great Together
We have arrived at that moment of clarity where we realize that the peanut butter of gratitude goes great with the chocolate of action. Either alone is good. Both together are great.
That might mean that you want to start keeping what might be called a gratitude and action journal. Some days you might find that you write down six things—three for which you are grateful and three that record positive actions that you took. Other days, you might find that the two categories blend a bit—or completely. There is no hard and fast rule here. Instead, this is an invitation simply to keep track of good things in your life and the ways in which you can ensure more good things happen.
Indeed, you might find yourself reflecting on the possibility that an action you take winds up in the gratitude journal of someone else. That is a powerful and positive feeling.
You’ll Be Grateful for Action You Take to Support Your Mental Health
At Peak View Behavioral Health, we treat a variety of mental health disorders and challenges, including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and suicidality. We also treat substance use disorders which are often entangled with mental health disorders. Each person we serve is treated by highly trained and experienced psychiatrists, psychologists, medical doctors, nurses, therapists, and behavioral health associates.
Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Peak View Behavioral Health is ready to help you take action to improve your mental health. We are grateful for that opportunity, and we are confident that you will be grateful for the improvements you see in your quality of life.
