November is a month during which psychology experts and laypeople alike laud the benefits of gratitude. They say that gratitude benefits our mental and physical health (improved sleep, decreased pain, fewer illnesses, etc.).
Numerous researchers have identified these benefits in the studies they’ve conducted on gratitude. I’m super curious how gratitude works. How does keeping a gratitude journal or writing a simple thank-you note improve our lives?
How gratitude improves our lives
- Gratitude helps us focus on the positive. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, unhappy, anxious, burned out, and depressed when times are tough (sometimes we even feel this way when facing everyday challenges). Gratitude strengthens our ability to cope because positive emotions lessen the attention we pay to negative information. Gratitude takes our eyes off the negative and helps us recast negative experiences in a more positive light.
- Gratitude opens the door to relationships. Saying “thank you” to friends and acquaintances builds bridges of connection. According to researchers, simply thanking a new acquaintance makes it more likely that he or she will seek an ongoing relationship.
- Gratitude prevents us from taking the good things for granted. We often overlook the good things in our lives (this is known as “hedonistic adaptation”), but we definitely notice when things don’t go well. Gratitude helps us take note of and savor the positive things in our lives.
- Gratitude fosters creativity. When we sit down and contemplate what we are grateful for, it broadens our modes of thinking. In other words, we have to consider things creatively, especially when times are difficult and the good things in our lives aren’t obvious. This creative thinking may spur us to build and strengthen social bonds, engage in play, push our limits, etc.
- Gratitude highlights the need for improvement. Researchers have found that gratitude induces both positive emotions (happiness, connectedness, etc.) and negative emotions (discomfort, guilt, etc.). Interestingly, they found that these negative emotions often motivate us to improve ourselves. For example, negative emotions may inspire us to improve our relationships with family members, eat better, or volunteer with charities.
Many researchers who’ve studied gratitude examined healthy individuals, but several researchers have found similar benefits among individuals experiencing physical and mental illnesses, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
It’s interesting to note that many of these benefits echo principles and teachings found in the Bible:
“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8
“A generous person will be enriched, and the one who provides water for others will himself be satisfied.” Proverbs 11:25
If you’d like to read more about the benefits of gratitude and about how gratitude yields these benefits, please visit my sources:
- The Science of Gratitude
- In Praise of Gratitude
- 7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude
- How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain
Do you feel that being grateful improves your life? In what ways does it benefit you? Why do you think it does this?
Shared at the following:
Encouraging Hearts and Home, Busy Monday, Over the Moon, and Grace and Truth.
The connection between gratitude and creativity has never occurred to me, and that makes a lot of sense, and is very cool to think about!
I’ve been thinking about gratitude ever since a retreat I went on last summer-a priest there, at one point, made a remark about how God has everything, but an important gift that we can give him is our thanksgiving and gratitude. That has made me think a lot lately about how it’s good to ask God for help and to pray for different intentions, but like you pointed out with those Scripture passages, it is vital that we offer him our gratitude and praise.
On the topic of gratitude, something that I started at some point was saying “thank you” to my toddler after he would give me a long-winded explanation for something or would ask me a bajillion times for something (you know how 3 year olds are!). I’ve found that calmly saying “thank you for that insight” or “thank you for letting me know” is a good way to refocus myself and take a breath when I’d otherwise probably go crazy with the endless stream of dialogue and questions that come forth from his lips!
I like the thought of using the “thank you” as a way to calm ourselves or refocus. I can see this being useful with other adults, too, especially when there is tension during a conversation.
Gratitude is life changing for me as well. And it’s not my default, but I’m finding that it helps me to manage my Eeyore-ish tendencies, and it’s certainly a key factor in maintaining biblical world view!
It’s definitely not my default either!
Glad to have company in this struggle!
Great post! Gratitude is so important. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, it is! I’m glad you appreciated the post.
I love that even modern science if finally catching up with God’s truth that gratitude is good for us! Thanks for sharing these ways that gratitude is beneficial for us and the world.
That’s interesting, isn’t it? No doubt it is good for us.
I have never thought about all the things gratitude does! I especially like the reminder that gratitude opens the door to relationships. What a beautiful reason to be grateful!
That’s not really a benefit I had considered previously, but it makes perfect sense!
I love all of your points here. What a fantastic post! I thought I knew what gratitude meant, but it wasn’t until after my stroke that I truly began to appreciate what the word means. The gratitude I experienced for the nurses who helped me with such a spirit of kindness was transformative for me. Even afterward, in my recovery, the gratitude that I have for those who are willing to come alongside me unconditionally makes me appreciate even more the love of my Savior. Living in Gratitude helps us grow as children of God into maturing Christians that glorify Christ.
It’s unfortunate that it often takes something bad happening to help us be more grateful. However, we still benefit from the gratitude.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Horace!
Excellent post! I remember once reading an article that said the brain’s pathways are like paths through a forest – the more often they are traveled, the more clear and easy to traverse a path becomes. This works for both positive and negative emotions. So if a person is bounding down that path of negative emotions, it’s time to open a path to the positive ones.
Yes, Michelle! I’ve heard this, too. It’s kind of like a “practice makes perfect” sort of situation. The more we practice being grateful, the easier it is to express gratitude.
Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared. Have a lovely week. I hope to see you at next week’s party too!
Thanks, Marilyn!