Gratitude And Happiness

“Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your

soul.” – Amy Collette

The word gratitude comes from the Latin word gratus, which means “thankful, pleasing.”

Therefore, in its most simple form, to be grateful is to have appreciation and express

thankfulness.

Research has confirmed the emotional and physical benefits of giving a thanks. One of the most powerful studies comes from Martin Seligman’s Reflective Happiness Website. After counting their blessings for one week, 92 percent of people felt happier and 94 percent of people who said they were depressed felt less depressed. In other studies, 90 percent of people found that expressing gratitude made them more joyful; 84 percent said it reduced stress and depression, and helped create optimism; and 78 percent said it gave them more energy.

According to C.S. Lewis, praise enhances the experience of enjoying benefits (Watkins,

Woodward, Stone & amp; Kolts, 2003). Therefore, experiences of gratitude should result in taking pleasure from the benefits in life… and, according to Lewis’ reasoning, the experience and expression of gratitude should enhance subjective well-being and therefore, that people who are disposed to gratitude should also feel happier (Watkins et al., 2003).

Gratitude is consistently showed to be significantly associated with greater happiness (Simon, n.d.) because gratitude increases experiences of positive emotions and it also helps people to take pleasure from positive experiences. Furthermore, gratitude is associated with better physical health which is a contributing factor to happiness (Simon, n.d.). Gratitude also helps people cope with adversity and to develop and maintain strong relationships.

Happiness is associated with being grateful (i.e. satisfied) with what one has, and focusing more on the positives in life. Furthermore, emotions are adaptable so sometimes we may become numb to what makes us happy… a dose of appreciation for our blessings can help us again feel happy.

How to practice gratitude?

Gratitude involves and evolved from one of the basic animal interactions, acknowledgment. Obviously, acknowledgment can be much more established and overt than a basic understanding of “I see you” “I feel you” or “I hear you.” But with gratitude it is taking acknowledgment 20 steps forward, in saying, “not only do I see/hear/feel you I thank you for X.” Whatever the X is — doesn’t really matter… It’s really about that acknowledgment and the 5 seconds to 30 minutes it takes to feel grateful to someone or to something non-living – that brings us back from all of our negative thoughts, grievances, and frustrations, etc.

Robert Emmons, psychology professor and gratitude researcher at the University of California, Davis, explains that there are two key components of practicing gratitude:

1)We affirm the good things we’ve received

2) We acknowledge the role other people play in providing our lives with goodness

Most of us know it’s important to express thanks to the people who help us, or silently

acknowledge the things we are grateful for in life. Research has linked gratitude with a wide range of benefits, including strengthening your immune system and improving sleep patterns, feeling optimistic and experiencing more joy and pleasure, being more helpful and generous, and feeling less lonely and isolated.

For many adults, and sometimes youth too, it is difficult to acknowledge their positive traits or list their strengths without feeling self-conscious. They may fear being perceived as vain or feel uncomfortable when somebody offers an authentic compliment. Being able to identify our strengths is an important expression of self-awareness and a fundamental skill for our students to develop. Dr. Kristin Jeff, self-compassion researcher and author, argues that appreciating other people’s goodness while ignoring our own creates a false division between us and them.

She explains how showing appreciation for our good qualities is an expression of gratitude for all the people who have shaped us as “I”.

Practicing gratitude for self is as easy as practicing gratitude for others. Identify things you value about yourself, acknowledge things that went well in the day and then, take a moment to appreciate these things.