The Power of Gratitude

(This story is by Margie Culbertson, an AARP Mississippi volunteer and freelance writer. Her photo is on the left.)

Here it is, time to make our New Year’s Resolutions. What would I promise myself I’d do to improve my life this year? I remembered that I’d been noticing the word “gratitude” everywhere — from books to newspapers, magazines, columns, and even research papers.

I decided to find out the “what” as well as the “why” of gratitude: what did the term “gratitude” really mean, and why were so many interested in it?

My what question was satisfied by going to the Yale University website where the authors write, “Gratitude is a state of mind that arises when you affirm a good thing in your life that comes from outside yourself, or when you notice and relish little pleasures.”

Now, I needed to answer my why question. I found a helpful article from The New York Times called, “ A Serving of Gratitude May Save the Day” which stated that a “feast of psychologists [had found that] the consequences of giving thanks” including these valuable benefits: better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life, and kinder behavior toward others.”

I then discovered a Forbes article entitled, in part, “ Seven Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude . . .” which reported even more benefits of gratitude, including it: opens the door to more relationships, improves physical and psychological health, enhances empathy and reduces aggression, helps you sleep better and longer, improves self-esteem, and brain studies even found it increases mental strength. An article on WebMD added even more benefits with an article called “ Boost Your Health With a Dose of Gratitude."

Throughout my reading, I kept running across the name “Dr. Robert Emmons,” a research psychologist from the University of California-Davis, and the person considered by many to be “the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude.” I went to the Emmons Lab site and scanned over Emmons’ almost 30 years of research findings on gratitude (simplified and summarized for easy consumption.) I also took a fascinating quiz while on the site called the “Gratitude Questionnaire.”

OK. So now I was convinced. I needed to put gratitude front and center in my life. Several sites helped me out: 1) a Huffington Post article called “ 7 Habits of Grateful People” and 2) an article called “ The Power of Gratitude — Seniors Enhance Life with Thankfulness.” I wasn’t surprised to see Dr. Emmons cited again, this time sharing techniques for what he does when he wants to strengthen his “gratitude muscle.” Thanks, Doc.

Finally, I turned to quotations on gratitude and I found a quote that took my breath away. It was from Meister Eckhart, a 13 ^th century German theologian and philosopher, and it was so lovely, so simple, and so beautiful. It simply said, “If the only prayer you said was ‘thank you,’ that would be enough.”

Amen.

(NOTE: In our next column, we’ll continue the quest for making 2015 the best year yet by focusing on the powerful phenome known as “Mindfulness.” To contact Margie for questions, comments, or suggestions, or to gain access to her earlier columns, email her at humorandlife@gmail.com ).