Parshas Ki Savo: Expressing Gratitude is Good for your Health
I have found the secret to happiness. I’ve done exhaustive research and discovered a list of things you can do every day to truly pursue happiness.
Every day you should:
- Express 3 Gratitudes
- Keep a Journal
- Exercise
- Meditate
- Engage in some Random Acts of Kindness
- Physical resilience - engage in physical activity, ie, not being sedentary
- Social resilience – communication & interaction with others, eg, expressing gratitude
- Emotional resilience – Do something to boost your happiness, eg, looking at a photo of a cute baby animal
- Mental resilience – concentrate and focus on something, eg, snapping your fingers exactly 50 times
Expressing gratitude increases your social resilience and makes you feel good. Why? It forges a bond between you and the person you’re expressing gratitude to. It also helps you to see the world in a more positive light. In this week’s parsha this particular aspect comes out loud and clear. Bringing the first of our fruits to the Temple as an offering for G-d is one way we can express our gratitude to Him for all the bounty He’s given us. And just as expressing gratitude to another person helps forge a stronger bond between the two of you, so too does expressing gratitude to Hashem increase your bond with Him.
Keep a Journal
Keeping a journal of what is going on in your life is a good way to achieve awareness: it helps you look back on your day and reflect. What did I do right? How could I improve? This is a popular mussar tool recommended by rabbis for centuries. In fact, many rabbis go further and recommend sharing your journal with a friend who you trust. They can offer feedback and help you solve problems you might otherwise not be able to on your own.
Exercise
Exercise increases your physical resilience. It should also come as no surprise that this, too, is in the Torah. We have a commandment to take good care of the bodies G-d gave us. After all, they are only on loan to us! So we must care for them well. Exercise and eating healthy is one way to do this.
Meditate
Meditation increases your mental resilience, as you have to concentrate and focus. In Judaism, we call this prayer. The Breslov Chasidism employ a particular type of prayer called hibotedut whereby you go to a quiet space where you can be alone and just have a conversation with G-d. They recommend doing it for an hour every day in addition to rabbinically proscribed prayer times. Meditation helps clear your mind, relieve stress, and restore peace to you, eliminating harmful stress hormones like cortisol and helping you find greater emunah (faith) and bitachon (trust) in G-d.
Random Acts of Kindness
This increases your emotional resilience and also your social resilience. You can get a feel-good boost by doing something kind for another person. In fact, this is one way people can escape from depression. Doing random acts of kindness does more than just help others – it helps you, by showing you how valuable and special you are. You can make a difference in another person’s life! Just go out and try it. No planning necessary! In Judaism, we call this chesed and to us it doesn’t matter if it’s random or planned in advance – either way, it’s a mitzvah and a kiddush Hashem, it sanctifies G-d’s name in the world.
So it turns out that by doing these things every day, you’ll not only be happier, but you will also live 10 years longer. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and do them!
Read more on Parshas Ki Savo: Giving our very best for G-d
