Embracing Gratitude for Thanksgiving and Year Long
by Leisa A. Bailey, Ph.D.
It's the time of year when the holiday season approaches. Coming this month is Thanksgiving - - - - which is a special holiday! Susan Kirby, a mother of two stated it well: "Thanksgiving has always been a favorite: It's a time of gratitude and a holiday we haven't messed up!" This is a holiday to spend time with family and friends and focus on the things in our lives for which we feel thankful. This time is special and encourages thoughts about what is truly important in life. However, once the turkey is carved and life gears up for the next event, it is important to focus on ways to keep the warm feelings of gratitude alive in the heart year round.
Gratitude is conscious awareness of all the joys and blessings in daily life. Developing a sense of gratitude allows you to see the good aspects of life, which encourages more contentment. This, in turn, helps you to get along with people more easily. Being aware of being thankful can be enormously helpful when life is stressful. Many spiritual and religious beliefs emphasize the value of cultivating gratitude as a way to connect with God and one's own spirituality. Religions and philosophies have long embraced gratitude as an indispensable manifestation of virtue, and an integral component of health, wholeness, and wellbeing.
In general, psychologists have traditionally been more interested in studying human vice than virtue. Only recently has the importance of gratitude been examined. Psychological research has found significant benefits to people who cultivate gratitude on a regular basis. In general these individuals tend to feel happier and have fewer physical complaints. Research has also shown that those practicing living with gratitude are more optimistic, make better progress toward important personal goals, and report higher levels of alertness, determination, and energy. Gratitude is statistically linked to happiness and hope. Grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, optimism and lower levels of depression and stress. Grateful individuals place less importance on material goods; they are less likely to judge their own and others success in terms of possessions accumulated; they are less envious of others; and are more likely to share their possessions with others.
Keeping a gratitude journal is extremely beneficial in encouraging an attitude of gratitude. While spending a few moments each day in quiet reflection on the things in life that you are thankful for can facilitate better feelings about life, the action of putting the words down on paper seems to make the gratitude more meaningful. The act of recalling and documenting each day the blessings in that day is a powerful exercise.
Some mistakenly believe living with gratitude is being Pollyannaish or naive. However, grateful people do not deny or ignore the negative aspects of life; they just tend not to maintain too much focus on them. Difficulties are addressed and then set aside so that the primary focus returns to the positive. By making deliberate and conscious decisions to look for the positive, one can see the little things in every day to be thankful for that are often overlooked - the taste of a good cup of coffee, a smile of a child, the playfulness of a puppy, a small kindness of a stranger, a compliment, or a beautiful sunset.
In parenting, teaching gratitude to children takes extra effort but can go a long way in teaching children the importance of being thankful and of expressing thanks in a sincere and meaningful way. Research has shown that children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families.
During this Thanksgiving season, renew the significance of deliberately and consciously living with gratitude throughout the year - the benefits are spectacular!
Dr. Bailey is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in Marietta. You can learn more about her by visiting: www.marietta-psychologist.com and can be reached @LeisaB@marietta-psychologist.com.