This week’s Better You, Backed by Science email is about gratitude – and how it can boost your mood and help you sleep better.

We all know how it feels when someone thanks us for something we’ve done. It’s warm. It lifts us. It can even turn a bad day around.

But what about when we express gratitude?

What Is Gratitude?

The word gratitude comes from the Latin gratia, meaning grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. At its core, it’s about being thankful.

But gratitude shows up in different ways for different people:

• It can be a feeling
• A sense of appreciation for something or someone
• A spoken or written expression
• A personality trait – being a grateful person
• Or a practice – a habit of looking for the good

However we experience it, gratitude is essentially this:
“Thank you. I appreciate you. I’m grateful for this.”

Counting Blessings vs Counting Hassles

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Miami ran a study where volunteers were asked to make weekly lists for ten weeks. Each person was randomly assigned to list either:

• things they were grateful for
• things that annoyed or hassled them
• or just general events (as a neutral comparison)

The study was called Counting Blessings vs Burdens.

The results?

• Those who counted blessings reported a significant boost in mood.
• Those who focused on hassles experienced a sharp drop in mood.

That last one is worth repeating: focusing on hassles made people feel worse.

In a 2-week version of the study (with once-a-day journaling), the results were the same: gratitude lifted people up. Complaining dragged people down.

Count Blessings Not Sheep

Struggling to sleep? You’re not alone.

In a study at Grant MacEwan University in Canada, female university students who had trouble sleeping – mainly due to overthinking and worrying – were asked to write in a gratitude journal for 15 minutes each night, reflecting on people, moments, and experiences they were thankful for.

The results were striking:

• They worried less
• Fell asleep faster
• And had better-quality sleep

As the 1954 White Christmas song puts it:
“Count your blessings instead of sheep.”
(That line was based on Irving Berlin’s own struggles with insomnia.)

Gratitude Isn’t About Ignoring the Hard Stuff

Gratitude doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine or ignoring what’s not.

It just means shaping your focus – training your mind to spot more of the light than the shadow.

Yes, life is still full of challenges. But gratitude gives you the emotional strength to face them more clearly and calmly.

It’s not about denial. It’s about perspective.

When you feel better, you cope better. And gratitude helps get you there.

Try This 5 Simple Gratitude Practices

• The Gratitude Jar
  Place a jar somewhere visible at home, with a pad and pen beside it. Anytime someone feels grateful, they jot it down and pop it in. On a special day (Christmas, New Year, a birthday), open the jar and read them together.
• Five Things
  Each day for a week, write down five things you’re grateful for from the past 24 hours.
• People You’re Grateful For
  Each day, think of someone you’re thankful for – a friend, family member, teacher, coach, neighbour. Reflect on why they matter to you.
• Nighttime Gratitude Journal
  If you struggle with sleep, spend 15 minutes each night writing down things you’re grateful for. Try it for a week and notice what changes.
• Morning Reflections
  Before getting out of bed, take a couple of minutes to reflect on a few people or moments you’re thankful for. It can set the tone for your whole day.

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