Gratitude: Giving Thanks

Sometimes when we try to think of things that we are grateful for, we instead think of what we don’t possess. When I was in fourth grade my class had to write an essay on what we were grateful for. As I sat there I thought about how I was the second smartest kid in the class when it came to math. I was the third fastest runner in the class. I was not the best looking, funniest, or most popular. I was not a good speller. A lot of my clothes were hand-me-downs or came from discount stores. I did not have my own room. My family did not get to go on as neat of vacations as some of my classmates. There was nothing that I was grateful for. After awhile I found myself crying as I began to feel sorry for myself, and not particularly special.

My teacher, Mr. Tecler, noticed this and invited out into the hallway where he sat with me and talked with me. He told me about his son who had a birth defect and described for me how difficult it was for him to use his hands to even eat. He did not try to convince me of what made me special or what was special in my life. Instead he taught me not to take simple things for granted. He taught me the beginnings of gratitude. To this day I regularly express gratitude for my working limbs and organs. I am also grateful to Mr. Tecler for this lesson.

My Merriam-Webster dictionary defines gratitude as: the state of being grateful; thankfulness. Happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky describes gratitude as wonder, appreciation, savoring, fathoming abundance, being thankful to God or another, and not taking for granted. We all have been told to be grateful throughout our lives (“always say thank you”). But why is gratitude important or valuable, beyond being polite? Gratitude is actually good for your health.

Research has shown that people who foster a sense of gratitude are happier, more energetic, and more hopeful. They experience more positive emotions. It is actually difficult to feel bad when you are being grateful. People who are grateful also experience fewer health symptoms. Furthermore, it is not just that people who are grateful also experience all of these things, but rather when people have deliberately engaged in gratitude these positive aspects followed; there is support for a causal relationship between gratitude and positive mental and physical health.

As Lyubomirsky points out, gratitude helps us extract the greatest joy and satisfaction from our experiences. It also promotes self-worth and self-esteem as we recognize how much people have done for us and how much we have accomplished. It likewise reduces our need to compare ourselves to others as we appreciate the things in our own life. Research has also shown that gratitude promotes better coping with trauma and stress. It increases the occurrence of moral and altruistic behavior. Valuing our friendships more increases the strength and benefit of those friendships.

Something as simple as fostering a sense of gratitude can have a plethora of positive effects. How often do you count your blessings? Writing down 5 things you are grateful for once a week has been shown to be beneficial. Writing a letter or note of gratitude to someone who has provided you something in your life can have lasting favorable affects. I wrote a thank you note to my parents for being my parents and all that that experience gave me a number of years ago and it still gives both me and them positive feelings .I will be writing thank you cards this week, thanking people for being in my life. I will share with them how simply having them in my life has enhanced it, and how I appreciate that. It seems like a good time to begin fostering feelings of gratitude.