Gratitude

Recognizing what you’re thankful for and expressing appreciation benefits both mental and physical health. Gratitude serves as a good coping mechanism, and it promotes positive emotions and determination, all notions that a newly injured athlete hopes to have.

Gratitude can also decrease harmful social comparisons, help social connectedness, and reduce depression. It can even improve immune system function, energy, and amount and quality of sleep, all of which are factors important to healing.

Try writing gratitude journal entries once a week about the things, people, or opportunities in your life that make you happy or comfortable.

Or

Write a letter of gratitude to anyone in your life who has made a positive impact on you. A good candidate might include your coach, physical therapist, best friend, partner, or the family member who has helped the most with your surgery experience. Send the letter, or better yet read it face-to-face, over the phone, or hand deliver the message.

Challenge yourself to light your life with gratitude, finding both big and little things to be grateful for throughout your day to day. Try utilizing mindfulness to do this.

I like to fall asleep bringing forth things I am grateful. I flood my brain with positive emotions attached to the people, material things, accessibilities and opportunities in my life, and even the qualities I like most in myself that make me feel thankful.