An Attitude of Gratitude…

When I think of being told to be grateful, I see a frustrated mother exasperated with the whining of an unsatisfied child. Or a friend, trying to think of something supportive to say when there is really no other way to help. If we can put these preconceived perceptions to one side and really look at what it means to be grateful, we would be surprised at the amount of joy gratitude can bring to our lives. 

The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context). In some ways, gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. 

“At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

Albert Schweitzer

With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals – whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.

In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. 

While it can be easy to count your blessings when everything in your life is running smoothly, keeping a view of what we can truly be grateful for can be hard when the going gets tough. But making an effort to cultivate a conscious, daily habit of gratitude through these troubled times can help us build resilience, deal with adversity, build strong relationships and even increase physical health. 

Let’s have a deeper look at the benefits we could uncover.

Gratitude improves our emotional wellbeing by:

Increasing joy

Gratitude helps us to focus on the positive instead of the negative, which naturally helps us feel good about ourselves and our lives. Research conducted by Professor Robert Emmons and his team has found that gratitude can permanently raise our level of happiness past what is genetically determined. 

Reducing symptoms of depression

Depression can make us (through no fault of our own) overly self-focused. It doesn’t mean we care not empathetic or compassionate, it just means we can be so busy looking at our own flaws we can be blind to the good going on around us. Gratitude redirects that focus outside of ourselves and onto others and the good they are providing for us. 

Increasing resilience

Resilience is our ability to bounce back and recover quickly from setbacks or stressful situations. Grateful people are able to see the bigger picture and remember the positive in their lives, and they seek out more social support. As a result, they are less likely to let bad events pull them into a downward spiral and more likely to grow in times of stress.

Improving your sleep

Positive emotions like gratitude activate the parasympathetic nervous system, also called the relaxation response, while negative emotions activate the sympathetic branch, often referred to as the fight-or-flight response. Considering that, it’s no surprise that gratitude has been shown to reduce the time required to fall asleep, increase sleep quality and sleep duration.

Reducing pain

Gratitude and other positive emotions may have ‘painkiller’ effect by stimulating the release of endogenous opioids. This would explain why grateful people report fewer aches and pains – they are less sensitive to pain and benefit from greater pain tolerance.

Strengthening our immune system

Practice HeartMath techniques which are designed to elicit feelings of appreciation and gratitude,  and have been shown to result in a significant increase in levels of immunoglobulin A, a predominant antibody that serves as the body’s first line of defense against viruses.

Lowering stress levels

The same HeartMath techniques have been found to reduce the stress hormone cortisol and increase the hormone DHEA, which reflects a state of physiological relaxation. The reason for this reduction in stress is the activation of the body’s relaxation response.

Helping us live longer

Optimism and positive emotions, in general, have been shown to extend people’s lifespans. Considering that fact and all the health benefits gratitude provides, it’s fair to say that being grateful likely increases life expectancy.

With all of this in mind, how can we introduce some gratitude into our lives? Here are 2 simple ways:

Gratitude journal

A common way of cultivating an attitude of gratitude is to keep a diary and add to it daily recording a few things we are grateful for. Setting a reminder in your calendar can be a good way to remind yourself at first, but eventually, it will be a part of your daily routine and you may even be reminded as good things happen to you from time to time. There are a few gratitude journal Apps out there that can also be useful. 

Gratitude meditation 

We’ve talked about mindfulness and all of the benefits that can be found in daily practice, so taking a few extra minutes to explore and focus on what is going well in your life can be an easy addition to your current mindfulness structure and can be a good way to introduce it without changing your routine too much.