Episode 17 - Gratitude: the 1st step towards spreading kindness

Gratitude: the 1st step towards spreading kindness

Music: “Just A Blip” by Andy G. CohenFrom the Free Music ArchiveReleased under a Creative Commons Attribution International License

http://happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/

Gratitude - a feeling of appreciation or thanks. The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

- Gratitude makes us happier.

- Gratitude makes us nicer, more trusting, more social, and more appreciative. As a result, it helps us make more friends, deepen our existing relationships, and improve our marriage.

- Gratitude makes us healthier.

"Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot." - Hansa Merchant league

- Gratitude boosts our career. I’m not suggesting that criticism and self-focus don’t have a place in the workplace, but I think we’re overdoing it.

- Gratitude strengthens our emotions.

- Gratitude makes us more optimistic. Gratitude is strongly correlated with optimism. Optimism in turn makes us happier, improves our health, and has been shown to increase lifespan by as much as a few years

"Gratitude is riches, complaint is poverty" - Doris Day

- Gratitude reduces materialism. Materialism is strongly correlated with reduced well-being and increased rates of mental disorder. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more. 

- Gratitude makes us less self-centered.

- Gratitude increases self-esteem. Imagine a world where no one helps you. Despite your asking and pleading, no one helps you.

"We often take for granted; the very things that most deserve our gratitude" -Cynthia Ozick

- Gratitude reduces feelings of envy. A small bit of jealousy or envy directed at the right target is motivating. 

- Gratitude helps us bounce back.

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." - William Arthur Ward

-Choosing to be thankful causes you to stop looking outward for external reassurance, but to look inwardly and to remember the good fortune you've had, no matter how little it seems.- All of us could do better in life; that's a fact. But we could also do worse. And alot worse. This is the reality that we tend to take for-granted on a daily basis. In our quest for betterment and self-fulfillment, we tend (or choose) to overlook all the simple blessings that we have received in life.

- My response is that not only will a grateful attitude help—it is essential. In fact, it is precisely under crisis conditions when we have the most to gain by a grateful perspective on life. Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that gratitude will come easily or naturally in a crisis. It’s easy to feel grateful for the good things. No one “feels” grateful that he or she has lost a job or a home or good health or has taken a devastating hit on his or her retirement portfolio.

- But being grateful is a choice, a prevailing attitude that endures and is relatively immune to the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives. When disaster strikes, gratitude provides a perspective from which we can view life in its entirety and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances. Yes, this perspective is hard to achieve—but my research says it is worth the effort.

- It works this way: Think of the worst times in your life, your sorrows, your losses, your sadness—and then remember that here you are, able to remember them, that you made it through the worst times of your life, you got through the trauma, you got through the trial, you endured the temptation, you survived the bad relationship, you’re making your way out of the dark. Remember the bad things, then look to see where you are now.

"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses." -Alphonse Karr