The Power of Gratitude? – Thank you Very Much!

Magic Words!

We all know that the most powerful words in our vocabulary are the words "thank you"!  They are more magical than “hocus pocus” and can be more effective than a raise or a promotion! 

They never go amiss and can be used in so many situations to make things better - to help deepen a friendship, to repair a bond or make new ones, to make sure another knows what they mean to us.  

Why is appreciation so important? Well, as William James aptly observed:

"The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated."

Studies confirm that gratitude and appreciation are essential for a healthy home and work environment.  In fact, one of the main reasons why people leave their jobs or seek a divorce is because they don’t feel appreciated.  A simple thank you or other words of appreciation can make a world of difference.

Be Happy

We all have a strong desire to be happy.  Many, including myself, believe that happiness is born of gratitude.   All too often we neglect the lessons our elders taught us -“stop to smell the roses”, “look before you leap”; and, above all, "be grateful". 

How important is it?  Well, Meister Eckhart summed it up nicely when he wrote:

“If the only prayer you say in your life is ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”

The Best Reason

Being grateful and saying thank you have powerful medical, health and performance benefits as well.  As author Jon Gordon points out:

“Research shows that grateful people are happier and more likely to maintain good friendships. A state of gratitude, according to research by the Institute of HeartMath, also improves the heart’s rhythmic functioning, which helps us to reduce stress, think more clearly under pressure and heal physically. It’s actually physiologically impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time. When you are grateful you flood your body and brain with emotions and endorphins that uplift and energize you rather than the stress hormones that drain you. "

A Grateful Workout

So what should we do?  Cato the Elder counselled several hundred years before Christ’s birth:

“The best way to keep good acts in memory is to refresh them with new. "

He was right!  Research proves that regular exercise of acts of gratitude improves and heightens the quality of our life.   US psychologists, McCollough and Emmons, published an article highlighting an experiment they conducted on gratitude and its impact on well-being.

Their results  confirmed once more that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism, and energy.  In addition, those in the 'gratitude group' experienced less depression and stress, were more likely to help others, exercised more regularly, and made greater progress toward achieving personal goals.

Author William Faulkener would agree that we need to flex our ‘gratitude muscles’ to keep fit.  He wisely observed:

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”

(Photo Credit: RCL 005, Netherlands -May 5, 2015)

Not Just on Special Days!

So prevalent and universally important is the culture of giving thanks that many Nations have made it an official holiday.  While Thanksgiving Day is very important in Canada and the United States, similar harvest festivals take place all around the world as a day to give thanks for the blessings of the previous year as well as the harvest.

Although 'Thanksgiving' was traditionally a religious and cultural celebration, it is now celebrated by many people regardless of their beliefs or culture.  It is important however that we don’t confine giving thanks to “Thanksgiving”.

Nor should we confuse quantity with quality of giving thanks – both are equally important and are not mutually exclusive!  As A.A. Milne, observed in Winnie-the-Pooh:

    “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

 Is it that Simple?

Yes it is! Not only does modern research proves as much, but it is wisdom that the ancient world understood very well.   So fundamental is it, that it has been repeated by many authors, philosophers, and theologians through-out the ages.

Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote in the 1st Century BCE:

"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues."

Cheap Talk!

A quote on a coffee mug that I once had  at work wise cracked:

“Talk is cheap until you hire a lawyer”! 

Believed to have been first said by P.T. Barnum (of a “There's a sucker born every minute” fame), it  sums up well the concept that talk is easy but action come with a cost.  When it come to giving thanks, this sentiment was most eloquently put by President John F. Kennedy:

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

In the spirit of  giving thanks, and in honour of our American friends and neighbours, who are celebrating 'Thanksgiving' today, THANK YOU for being one of my connections and for allowing me to share with you the power and benefits of these two simple words.  

A little mood music is always a nice way of easing the load and making one feel happy and grateful, so…."Don’t Worry, Be Happy”!

PS: The Top Photo is of a Dutch girl waiting to give flowers to a Canadian Veteran in Apeldoorn, on May 6th, 2015, just before the final concert bringing to a close the week-long celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands during WWII.

The simple act of thanking the Veterans with flowers and the appreciation of the Canadian Vet's was outstanding to see in action!  That photo and the next photo of lightning (taken in Wageningen on May 5th, 2015)  and the one below were taken by a photographer from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 005, the Netherlands.  

The photo below was taken within 30 minutes of the lightning and heavy rain we had on May 5th, as we performed a small concert before leading the huge street parade celebrating VE-Day, for an appreciative crowd of over 50,000!  

It was an honour to take part in the celebrations. I was very thankful for the unique opportunity!