BELIEVE it or not, there are people who study and work in the area of gratitude. One such person is Robert Emmons, described as the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude.
He’s been studying the physical, psychological and social aspects of gratitude.
Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Those are the words of a song we used to sing in Sunday school. I am not sure whether you have ever actually tried to count the different ways in which you are blessed.
If you are like me, you will give up pretty quickly when you realise the magnitude of them, and instead feel remorseful for the things you have complained about.
A grown-up version of counting your blessings is keeping a gratitude journal — a daily record of things one is thankful for. Even when done for a short time, this is said to deliver amazing benefits.
Apart from creating an awareness of the goodness around you, there are some real benefits that accrue when you make time for gratitude.
According to the writers of The secret, a best-selling personal development guide, gratitude is a powerful force for helping you get what you want out of life.
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“When you give thanks as though you have already received what you want, you are emitting a powerful signal to the universe. That signal is saying that you have it already because you are feeling gratitude for it now.
They suggest that “each morning before you get out of bed, you should make it a habit to feel feelings of gratitude in advance for the great day ahead, as though it is done”.
Gratitude also makes you a better member of society. By living with a consciousness of the input that other people make to your life, you are less likely to harbour feelings of envy, anger and regret, which damage yourself as well as your relations with those around you.
When we are thankful, recognising the ways in which others enrich our lives, we also become alive to the fact the we have value, we are worthy of their efforts and inputs; and this in turn makes us more aware of our value. People who practice gratitude have greater self-esteem and a higher sense of self-worth.
When people have high self-esteem, they are easier to live with and relate to, thereby creating more good relations to be grateful for — it’s a wonderful self-renewing cycle.
Finally, gratitude has an effect on our physical health. People who practice gratitude consciously have better mechanisms for controlling stress, for fighting disease. They preemptively take better care of their physical and mental health therefore increasing their general well-being.
So you see, gratitude is not just about good manners and coming tops in Sunday school, it’s a very real personal development too that can deliver, peace, serenity, good health and better realtions with loved ones.
Now who doesn’t want that?
