The Power of Gratitude

Why Gratitude?

“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.”

– Johannes A Gaertner

Gratitude is great for us. Research has proven that gratitude makes our bodies healthier, it makes us happier, and it makes the world a better place. This contrasts with what we currently believe about our world, and ourselves.

The majority of articles and blogs start off with how bad things are: our climate is being destroyed, our quality of life is deteriorating, the quality of our relationships (or lack thereof) is lowering, the quality of food and air is not like it used to be… We are bombarded with messages telling us that people are more disconnected, lonely, and apathetic towards the world.

 

 

To counteract this “reality,” people look for that next thing to feel better – better jobs, better relationships, better “fixes”, better self-help tools (or at least a promise) that will unlock the doors to happiness. People are spending a lot of money to improve how they feel. According to a market research done by Marketdata, the self-help industry is currently worth $10 billion and is projected to increase to $13.2 billion by the year 2022. The exhausting and degrading nature of modern lifestyles leaves people searching for a way to feel an elusive peace.

As a result, different disciplines are working diligently to help people understand what “happier” means, and how to achieve it. A rise in disciplines such as positive psychology, mindfulness, integrative medicine, and many other fields helps us understand how to be satisfied with our lives. Even though we are yet to understand what it really means to be happy, we are starting to understand that the golden key to unlock happiness and satisfaction is GRATITUDE.

A great amount of research has come out recently supporting the idea that people who are grateful live longer and happier lives. Two of the most prominent researchers on the topic of gratitude are Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough. They define gratitude “as a two-step process that involves”:

1) “Recognizing that one has obtained a positive outcome” and

2) “Recognizing that there is an external source for this positive outcome.”

This means that people can be grateful for many different reasons. They can experience internal gratitude, wherein they are grateful for their personal successes and outcomes, and they can also experience external gratitude, wherein they feel thankful emotions toward other living beings, God, nature, etc.

By focusing on and appreciating what’s good in our lives, our bodies and minds experience tangible benefit.

So how exactly are our bodies and minds benefiting? Here are just some examples:

Benefits in Physical and Mental Health

Researchers have found that adults that are more grateful tend to live healthier lives. They tend to sleep better, have better immune systems, have lower blood pressure, and generally age better. Even people who have experienced traumas, such as veterans with PTSD or those who were affected by 9/11, benefit from gratitude.  The saying that “an ounce of gratitude is worth a pound of cure” is certainly true.

 

Social Benefits

Researchers have also found that people who are more grateful tend to do better socially.  They have better relationships, have larger social networks, better social support, and are perceived to be more likable and trustworthy.

In one study it was found that not only do grateful people have an easier time making new friendships, but also those friendships tend to be more meaningful. Even in romantic relationships, those who go out of their way to show appreciation have a better self-reported satisfaction with their partner. Grateful couples are happier together.

Benefits to Emotional Stability and Overall Well-Being

Gratitude prevents us from going down the rabbit hole of negativity. It’s easy to slip into a mindset that is filled with negativity and solely notice what we are dissatisfied with. When we focus on what is good, it is almost impossible to feel opposing emotions such as greed, resentment, and anger. In particular, preventing frequent outbursts of anger is healthy for us.

 

 

Although anger is a normal emotion and getting angry occasionally does not do much harm, chronic anger is a different story. In one research study, it was found that chronic anger puts middle-aged men and women at a significant risk of a heart attack. The article stated that outbursts of anger can double the chances of having a heart attack within the next hour because of the major stress response created in the body. An outburst of anger raises an individuals’ blood pressure and heart rate, and constricts the arteries and veins. Another study found that people are three times more likely to have a stroke after an outburst of anger, and are six times more likely to experience a rupturing aneurysm.

Robert Emmons, a researcher and Professor of Psychology at UC Davies claims in his talk, The Power of Gratitude, that gratitude has the power to heal, energize, and change lives. Gratitude helps us to feel more generous, forgiving, compassionate, and to have a more optimistic outlook on life by seeing life as a gift as opposed to a burden, etc. Grateful individuals have a higher sense of self-worth and have an easier time achieving their goals.

What happens within an individual?

There are many reasons why gratitude improves our quality of life. Being grateful feels fundamentally good. It makes others feel good when they are recognized for their value and their actions. When we make others feel happy, we become more likable. We get rewarded for appreciating goodness in others by being sought after and included in social groups.

Our bodies feel physically better when we refocus away from a state of negativity to a state of gratitude.  Since it is almost impossible to experience anger and gratitude at the same time, when we stop ourselves from feeling angry by appreciating goodness as we begin to feel anger, our body’s stress hormones automatically lower. Our focus changes from past to present. Furthermore, gratitude also inoculates us against something called the Hedonic Treadmill.

The Hedonic Treadmill

The Hedonic Treadmill, or hedonic adaptation, is a theory that explains humans’ natural ability to adjust to new experiences in a relatively short period of time regardless of what ups or downs might have initially occurred to cause the change. In other words, we get accustomed to whatever our current normal is very quickly.

For example, we might go to a fancy hotel for the first time and after a day or two of being amazed, we get accustomed to the extravagant novelties. Or, the few lucky people who have won a lottery eventually tend to go back being as happy or as unhappy as they were before winning the game. Those who bought a new home or a new car recognize that within a short period of time the novelty of their new item wears off quickly. Even when we make a vow to someone to be there “in sickness and health until death do us apart” with the purest of intentions and desire, we often end up taking that person for granted once we settle into a routine. Holidays feel good because they happen only once a year for a short period of time. Just as we get used to them, they are done. We must wait for them to happen again. The bottom line is that happiness caused by novelty does not last.

Gratitude, however, helps us get out of this cycle. By consciously stopping and finding something new to appreciate about other people, the world, our circumstances, our gifts, etc. we purposefully focus on what is different. Our emotions love change. When we notice and experience new, we feel excitement and we prevent boredom and routine to set in.

Ways to improve your life with gratitude

 

 

Researchers agree that there are practical steps that we can do in order to improve our lives with gratitude. Here are three top suggestions:

1. Keep a gratitude journal
Keeping a journal of things that we are grateful for is a good start. The trick is to do it once a week.

In a study conducted by Sonja Lyubomirsky, it was found that people who kept a gratitude journal just once a week for six weeks improved their happiness levels significantly more compared to those who kept the gratitude journal 3 times per week. Those who kept the gratitude journal 3 times per week did not see any change in their happiness levels. Perhaps the hedonic treadmill was to blame.

2. Write letters of gratitude to people regardless of whether or not you intend to mail or email them.

In the same way, it does not make any difference if the recipient is currently alive or deceased. Just express your appreciation.

3. Count your blessings, not sheep.

Before falling asleep allow yourself to think of acouple of things that made your day better, no matter how small or big they might have been. And, if you need a template for what that might look like, just listen to the voice of Bing Crosby as he sings “Count your blessings”. His voice alone can make you feel grateful to be alive.

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
So if you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings

How has gratitude impacted your life? Did you try these simple tricks to improve your wellbeing through gratitude?

Ready to take the first step?

Schedule a free, 30-minute virtual consultation with our Founder and CEO, Monica Marusceac, MBA, BCH

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