Eastern European women highly value gratitude and appreciation

Gratitude is the antidote to fear. Therefore, if you are looking to minimize fear in your life, the best way to go about this is to develop greater gratitude which is highly valued by Eastern European women.

• How to develop greater gratitude:

The first way to develop greater gratitude is to start a gratitude journal. Every night before going to bed, write down three things that you are grateful for throughout the day. These three things can include your family’s support or the delicious dinner. Things in your gratitude journal can be big or small. Keep doing this for 21 days and you will notice greater gratitude in your heart.

The second way to develop greater gratitude is to cultivate appreciation. There is a difference between gratitude and appreciation. Gratitude means you feel good after something good has happened for you or someone has done something nice for you, whereas appreciation means you feel good when you proactively find something positive to appreciate, even if nobody has helped you.

That’s why appreciation is much more powerful than gratitude. Appreciation requires less activation energy because you can look for something beautiful instead of waiting for something beautiful to happen in your life. When you appreciate people and things around you on a daily basis, you will develop greater gratitude effortlessly.

• How to remain positive during the toughest times:

Because the human brain has negativity bias which keeps us safe, things of a more negative nature have a greater effect on people’s psychological state than neutral or positive things. Consequently, it’s not easy to stay positive during difficult times. Now I’d like to share with you three ways to stay positive during the toughest times.

The first strategy is to ask yourself, “Will this matter in 5 years?” I know many things are very, very difficult. But a lot of those things won’t matter in 5 years. Let’s say your workplace is very competitive, so your colleagues stabbed you in the back. The pain is tremendous, but I’m pretty sure this probably won’t matter in 5 years.

The second strategy is to reframe the situation. How you think about a tough situation is everything because everything is your perception. Ask yourself, “What can I control? What can I improve?” Find steps you can take to change the circumstances. Mentally reframing the situation and taking action will surely help you stay positive.

The third strategy is to give yourself a lot of time. Don’t overcommit to other people. Spend more time doing what really makes you feel positive. This can be having a massage or more sleep. When you dare to rest, you will stay positive effortlessly.

• How to manage stress effectively:

Stress management is very important in this day and age, so how can we manage stress effectively?

The first stress management technique that I’d like to share with you is to stop ruminating. Not every type of stress is bad. Sometimes stress can be positive because it’s a huge motivator. But when stress causes anxiety, it becomes negative, so when this happens, you need to stop ruminating first. Rumination is the cornerstone of anxiety. Identify an issue that you are ruminating about. Now what you need to do is to not try to solve it. This is just like stopping solving a math problem or getting off a treadmill.

The second stress management technique that I’m sharing with you is to be well-organized. Write down everything that you have to do in your diary and then do one thing at a time. If there are too many things on your to-do list, ask yourself these questions:

Question 1: Does this have to be done?

Question 2: Does this have to be done today?

Question 3: Can someone else do this?

These three questions will help you minimize your to-do list and reduce the stress in your life!

“Eastern European women highly value appreciation and gratitude. They like men who know how to stay positive at all times.”

Olga P

Olga loves travelling and learning about different cultures. She enjoys taking photos, trying new foods, and spending time outdoors. A skilled writer, Olga is a language enthusiast as well. She enjoys meeting new people from around the world and trying out new recipes in her kitchen.