Are you a glass-half-full or half-empty kind of person?
Truth be told, it doesn’t matter. It would be better to be an “I’m grateful to have something to quench my thirst” kind of person.
Suddenly, it’s not about the amount of water anymore but the value of water. The value remains unchanged by how full, or not full, the glass is.
That’s the beauty of gratitude.
Yes, that might be a simple example applied to a worn-out philosophical question, but it makes our point. Gratitude can change your life.
Being thankful doesn’t change your situation. You’ll still have what you have and have what you don’t have. Instead, it changes the perspective of your situation. Gratitude turns what you have right now into enough, making space for the freedom to enjoy your life as you are. Practising gratitude is the antidote to emotional responses that, when ignored, can lead to some bigger problems and challenges. That’s because gratitude can hijack a negative response to a person or experience by stopping it dead in its tracks and reframing the situation. Even when things suck, there is a lesson to learn or a moment to appreciate. You just need to learn how to see.
If you’re not convinced yet, remember, our thoughts also influence our behaviours and health. That means practising gratitude can positively affect your mental and physical well-being.
THE RESEARCH ON GRATITUDE
The most renowned study on gratitude, published in 2003 by psychologists Robert A. Emmons and Michael E McCullough, analysed the effects of gratitude in the paper Counting blessings versus burdens and found that gratitude may improve psychological well-being. Research on the benefits of gratitude wasn’t a popular field of study before this landmark study, which sparked a growing interest in the field of gratitude research.
Since then, a lot more studies have sought to understand gratitude and how it relates to our physical and psychological health. Summer Allen concludes in The Science of Gratitude prepared for the John Templeton Foundation that, “While still a new avenue of research, a growing number of studies suggest that gratitude may make people physically healthier and adopt healthier lifestyles.”
More simply, gratitude is good for your head, your heart, your body and your soul. As poignantly put by Dr Emmons,
“Gratitude heals, energises and changes lives.”
THE BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE
Using The Science of Gratitude as a guide, here are some of the associated benefits of gratitude.
Gratitude exercises can improve your sleep
Study participants who practised gratitude journaling reported an improvement in their sleep quality.
A grateful outlook can protect you against burnout
Measuring students, professionals and athletes found that those presenting higher gratitude levels also present less evidence of burnout.
Gratitude can increase your well-being
Studies measuring the effects of writing down “blessings” show that gratitude encourages feelings of happiness and satisfaction.
Gratitude can help you cope with pain
Measuring people with chronic conditions and illnesses, found that those with higher gratitude experienced fewer symptoms related to depression and anxiety.
Optimism can help you recover quicker
Looking at patients recovering from heart problems, optimism and gratitude played a role in adherence to doctor advice aiding their recovery.
Gratitude counteracts materialism
People with grateful attitudes tend to be more satisfied with their lives, disarming the belief that more things are the key to fulfilment.
Gratitude cultivates positive virtues
Other studies have linked practising gratitude with patience, humility and wisdom. In other words, gratitude will help you become a well-rounded individual.
These 7 benefits of gratitude can be experienced by anyone who chooses to prioritise being thankful.
THE PRACTICE OF GRATITUDE
The important thing to note when looking at gratitude research is that it needs to be practised. Feeling it isn’t enough. Gratitude requires action.
And the easiest way to take action is through expression.
Expressing gratitude can look like journaling, keeping a running list on your phone, genuinely telling someone how much they mean to you, or performing acts of kindness. There aren’t really any rules to getting it “right”. It’s about playing around and finding a practice that works for you. The important thing is taking the time and energy to be grateful.
If the term “practising gratitude” still feels a little vague, utilise motivational speaker and author Brain Tracy’s Four A’s of Expressing Gratitude: appreciation, approval, admiration and attention.
This better explains what exactly gratitude consists of. So, if you’re stuck, start with showing appreciation, communicating your approval, demonstrating admiration or offering your attention.
Gratitude helps replace feelings of longing with unadulterated joy and abundance.