Gratitude Reality Check

My Back Story

I’m going be honest that I started out in life more as a unhappy pessimist. I wasn’t happy about being unhappy so tried things like PMA and unconditional gratitude as a way of improving things … every time I crashed out, increasingly of the opinion that “it’s just plain unhuman to be grateful about everything all the time

Reality Check

One very dark, depressed day came a realisation that these days are always going to happen and I’m going to be defenceless against them, unless I can find something … anything to lift my spirits. Again … if I can find one small thing to feel grateful about, then I stand a chance of winning over the horrors of my day

I decided to keep a gratitude diary. I was startled to note that as soon as I find something small to feel grateful about, other helpful things start to kick in like figuring the problem out, working out a sensible next step. Something always comes along that helps me make it a better day. For me, that is the reality of gratitude

Try This

(1) Scroll down to find the hybrid of my diary … our confidential gratitude bot (2) keep an eye out for anything that makes you grateful today … remember to start with the very small things (3) as soon as something happens run the bot and see how YOU have the ability to make this a better day.

(?)

WELCOME

Please take a moment to bring your attention into this moment and onto the gratitude you are experiencing right now. Click when you are ready to begin

BEGIN

HELP

You can refer to our help / FAQ section at any time in your session by clicking the (?) button above. It will explain a little more about what the bot is doing and why.

CONTINUE

BOT

– FIND OUT MORE –



(x)

GRATITUDE JOURNAL

HELP / FAQ

Why Gratitude?

In her book “The How of Happiness” Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky states that gratitude is now scientifically credited with very key life benefits. It is something we can, and should, expect to experience on a daily basis. The process is very simple to perform starting with a commitment to maintaining a daily gratitude journal. Research identifies that journaling for five minutes a day can enhance our long-term happiness by over 10%. Personally speaking, I’m not sure I can guarantee feeling that much better every day, but I do feel that this bot is encouraging me to approach gratitude almost like a part of some mental health routine … and I certainly feel it improving and maintaining my overall wellbeing

Why "In The Moment"?

Having been involved with interactive software for sometime, I have come to realise that by observing my thoughts and feelings in the moment (when my choices are still fluid), rather than in retrospect (where my choices have been made) I am able to make better choices and take better actions than I otherwise might take. From experience I have found even a momentary break in the often automatic sequence of trigger > emotion > cognition > action, can bring significant advantages.

Why Chatbots?

Chatbot’s are the latest iteration of interactive software. They allow often complex processes to be performed simply over a wide range of devices, and perform a series of functions. In this instance, our bot performs two.

Why Chatbots and Massive, Mundane, Miserable?

The first function for our bot requires the user to simply run it whenever they experience a moment of gratitude. The bot encourages them to not only look for “massive” moments of gratitude, but also look for equally important moments in “mundane” or “miserable” moments. These last two situations are key in helping the user learn and practice positive coping strategies.

Why Chatbots and Feeling, Thinking, Doing

Following on from massive, mundane, miserable, our bot takes the user through a short guided thinking sequence where they explore their gratitude and how it’s making them feel and think. This is a powerful process that tends to break the automatic sequencing of cause and effect on the user and encourages them to explore their next actions and what they would like to do as a result.

Why Email Journaling?

Research identifies that journaling for five minutes a day can enhance our long-term happiness by over 10%. Chatbot’s not only enable in the moment journaling , but optionally email the session to the user so it can be saved in a form resembling a traditional retrospective gratitude journal. This is key in helping them build a evidence base of improvement and successes. The bot session is then deleted from the platform.

December Gratitude