Most people you’ll talk to in January will have something in common – they’ll probably be trying to change something.
January comes around and we can yearn for change. We may begin with our social media profile picture (perhaps followed by changes to our appearance to actually look like our profile picture!), we may put out feelers to change our job or vocation, we may get colour charts to change up our walls, or get booking a holiday to temporarily change up our view for a wider vista.
Sometimes all this change makes us wonder what a change it would be if – instead of always focusing on improvement and betterment – we took stock of small mercies. After all, focusing on change can feel punishing, but when we focus instead on things we’re grateful for it often leads us to nourish those things.
Like positive sleep. Believe it or not, there’s research to suggest that ending our day on a positive note can lead to us to have more positive sleep. An article by Health Writer Linda Wasmer Andrews for psychologytoday.com cites several early sources of research that evidence a relationship between feelings of gratitude and sleep. Read more in How Gratitude Helps You Sleep at Night here https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/minding-the-body/201111/how-gratitude-helps-you-sleep-night
So, if you can’t resist that January urge to make a meaningful change to your wellbeing, switch up your step-by-step plans with lists of small mercies.