"Gratitude is riches. Complain is poverty." - Dories Day
Gratitude is an emotion to cherish what we have: love from family, peace in life, and friends who care and help. According to research, gratitude can positively impact our life [1]. However, it's not an emotion we can retain without practice. Discover it in depth. We can find some additional meanings to this emotion.
Grateful is an attitude. Gratefulness doesn't change anything but demands us to recognize from the inside how we feel. There is also no intention to change anything. Instead, when practicing gratitude, we begin with examining where we are, what we love, and who we are ourselves. Rather than complaining about what we don't have and worrying about what we want, practicing gratitude focuses on calmly accepting and appreciating what we already have.
Grateful is a self-reflection. When we feel thankful, we learn what we value the most and what we are looking for in life. For example, when we are grateful to have a friend listening to our story. We respect the person who can take the time to understand. Then we can also spend time understanding others. When we are grateful for the quiet time when we can enjoy reading, we can spend more time on it as we appreciate that a lot. Listing all the things that we are grateful for. Those are things we need to achieve in our life.
Grateful is an expression. Express our gratefulness is necessary to respond to these emotions. This year, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) includes an essay on a thank you note "Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge. (We encourage you to share this note with that person, if possible, and reflect on the experience!)." It's an interesting topic, and it rotted in the caring culture in UPenn and the positive psychology research by Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman. Notice the recommendation to send the note out. Gratitude expresses kindness to the people around that make us happy and to others.
Grateful is a reminder. It reminds us of what we have and the positive things in life. It's a reminder to revisit our values, knowing what matters the most. It's a reminder of saying thank you and build meaningful connections with people.
Find one thing to say thank you for today and every day in the next few days. Notice if you and your world can turn to be delighted.
Grateful is an attitude. Gratefulness doesn't change anything but demands us to recognize from the inside how we feel. There is also no intention to change anything. Instead, when practicing gratitude, we begin with examining where we are, what we love, and who we are ourselves. Rather than complaining about what we don't have and worrying about what we want, practicing gratitude focuses on calmly accepting and appreciating what we already have.
Grateful is a self-reflection. When we feel thankful, we learn what we value the most and what we are looking for in life. For example, when we are grateful to have a friend listening to our story. We respect the person who can take the time to understand. Then we can also spend time understanding others. When we are grateful for the quiet time when we can enjoy reading, we can spend more time on it as we appreciate that a lot. Listing all the things that we are grateful for. Those are things we need to achieve in our life.
Grateful is an expression. Express our gratefulness is necessary to respond to these emotions. This year, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) includes an essay on a thank you note "Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge. (We encourage you to share this note with that person, if possible, and reflect on the experience!)." It's an interesting topic, and it rotted in the caring culture in UPenn and the positive psychology research by Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman. Notice the recommendation to send the note out. Gratitude expresses kindness to the people around that make us happy and to others.
Grateful is a reminder. It reminds us of what we have and the positive things in life. It's a reminder to revisit our values, knowing what matters the most. It's a reminder of saying thank you and build meaningful connections with people.
Find one thing to say thank you for today and every day in the next few days. Notice if you and your world can turn to be delighted.
TEA Notes: Read the book Untangling You for more actionable tips to practice gratitude.
