Be Grateful More Often

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The author of this article states that people are less likely to express gratitude in their workplace than anywhere else.?

It seems that the temperature of the times makes one almost interesting, as well as feeling included, when one expresses dissatisfaction with one’s work.?This type of “negative bonding” left me feeling empty and discouraged when I engaged in it. This negative bonding, as it was explained to me, is when I found others who could identify solely with my dislikes and negativity and spend time talking with me about them. I lived with a thrill of justified anger and the belief that I was right all the time.?It obliterated a feeling of cohesion and gratitude.

So, I was reminded this past Thanksgiving that I was grateful for my family, my friends, and especially for my time as a partner at Price Waterhouse, despite the complaints I levied about the job and my time spent doing it.?It seemed, at that time, I was engaging in the zeitgeist. I wanted to be liked and approved of.

The author claims that a recent survey of 2,000 Americans released earlier this year by the John Templeton Foundation found that people are less likely to feel or express gratitude at work than anyplace else.

Research has found that writing letters of gratitude over a six-week period leads to greater life satisfaction as compared to simply recording ordinary life events.

My therapist has encouraged me to keep a journal.?Writing is one of the best practices for psychological and spiritual growth and wellness, she says.? She also encouraged me to make gratitude lists each day:? at least 5 things not previously recorded.?

It changed me.?It is now what I recommend to my clients.

The author says that counting our blessings doesn’t just cheer us up; it can improve our health and well-being.?The author sites a series of what she calls “well known studies” wherein two psychologists asked participants to keep a weekly journal for ten weeks. Some were asked to write about five things or people they were grateful for each week, some were asked to write about five things that hassled them during the week, and a third group was asked to write about any five events that occurred during the week.

As predicted, those in the gratitude group scored higher on measures of positive emotions, self-reported symptoms of their physical and mental health, and they also felt connected to others and more a part of humanity compared to those who made routine notes about their days or wrote about their hassles.

In a compelling study the author writes about a group which divided 41 fundraisers at a public U.S. university who were soliciting donations into two groups:?the “thanked” and the “unthanked.”

The thanked received a visit from the director of annual giving with words of gratitude, while the other group received daily feedback on their effectiveness with reports of data and other metrics, but no expression of gratitude from their director.?The weekly call volume of fundraisers in the thanked group increased by 50% on average the week after the intervention took place, all because the director’s expression of gratitude strengthened the fundraisers feelings of social worth.

It’s a great time to think about gratitude.

I know, in my life, the more grateful I am, the happier I am.? And my state is infectious. Gratitude benefits us all.?

How do you express gratitude, and are you expressing it at all?

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