Giving Thanks and Expressing Gratitude
Each holiday season comes with high expectations for a cozy and festive time of year. However, for many, the Thanksgiving season might be tinged (著色) with sadness, anxiety, or depression. Research suggests that giving thanks and expressing our gratitude can actually lift the good and right spirits. The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. In some ways, gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that being grateful helps them connect to something larger than themselves as individuals. In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish (喜愛) good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. Furthermore, gratitude is strongly related to wellbeing (康樂). The positive effects of experiencing and expressing gratitude are endless. Gratitude has been found to be beneficially linked with social wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, and psychological wellbeing, too. Gratitude appears to have a constant effect. People who are thanked are presumably more apt (易於) to extend help to others in the future. Indeed, the expression of gratitude is beneficial for both individuals and society.
People feel and show gratitude in multiple ways. They can apply it to the past (retrieving positive memories and being thankful for childhood or past blessings), the present (feeling good fortune all the time), and the future (maintaining a hopeful and optimistic attitude). Two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, have done much of the research on gratitude. In one study, they asked all participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on particular topics. One group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred during the week. The second group wrote about daily irritations (惱怒) or things that they displeased, and the third group wrote about events that had affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to doctors than those who focused on irritations. Other studies have looked at how being grateful can improve relationships. For example, a study is that couples who took time to express gratitude for their partner not only showed more positive toward the other person, but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about their relationship. Managers who say “thank you” to employees would let employees get motivated to work harder. While it’s easy to feel a rush of joy after winning the lottery or receiving a big promotion at work, gratitude extends to the smaller blessings in life as well that they might be often overlooked or taken for granted. Even the smallest moments, such as a brief chat with a friend, a kind gesture from a stranger, a cool breeze on a hot day, or a peaceful stroll (散步) in nature, are things that we can be thankful for. Nevertheless, whatever our circumstances in life, oftentimes, we may find that consistently showing gratitude can be surprisingly difficult. Many of us get caught up in a negativity bias, where we linger on bad news and unpleasant experiences, but, yet allow moments of positivity to fade into the background. Fortunately, gratitude is like a muscle that we can build. With the right exercises and practice, we can find, at least, something small to appreciate in even the bleakest (陰冷的) day. In doing so, a little gratitude can do wonders for our mood. When we practice gratitude, we shift our thoughts away from negative emotions and uncomfortable sensations. Instead, we begin to focus on good things. For example, we sense that how fortunate we are to have close friends who are willing to company us and drive us home. Moreover, because gratitude can boost our mood, it’s no surprise that it can also improve our overall physical and mental health. That is, approaching life with a more positive mindset can do more than just improve our health. It can also let us have better sleep, higher self-esteem, increased patience and acts of kindness toward friends and family members.
Gratitude is, in effect, a way for people to appreciate what they have, instead of thinking what they can’t feel satisfied. In other words, gratitude helps people to refocus on what they own instead of what they lack. Here are some ways we can do to cultivate gratitude on a regular basis:
Write a thank-you notes or emails. It can express our enjoyment and appreciation of people who help us a lot.
Thank someone mentally. It may help us to think about someone who has done something nice to us.
Keep a gratitude journal. We can write down the things and thoughts about gratitude immediately every day.
Count our blessings. We can count three to five good things every day to remind us of our blessings.
Pray. People who are religious can use prayer to cultivate gratitude. For ordinary people, prayer is also a process of learning to trust Almighty God.
Meditate. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. We can often practice meditation to let us have a peaceful mind.
    Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. We perceive that a positive attitude is not just thinking happy thoughts. It takes effort and determination to remain positive, especially in today’s world. In truth, a positive attitude is formed by the choices we make daily, and how we react to situations and others around us. When we brush off disappointment or rude comments, we maintain a positive attitude. Our attitude is also influenced by how well we ignore negative self-talk and accept our current circumstances. It is important to express thankfulness when something good happens. Being thankful is not inherently bad. On the contrary, it is part of showing appreciation to others or for our good fortune. We are really thankful when we get a new job or meet a new friend. However, where thankfulness is an emotion, gratitude is an attitude of appreciation under any circumstance. Gratitude involves being thankful, even when nothing exciting happens. That is to say, we do not need something good to happen to have gratitude, and when bad things happen, our gratitude does not falter (動搖). Gratitude is about being content physically and mentally with the state of our lives. In other words, we may not always be happy, but we can still practice gratitude. Gratitude deepens our inner connections. Thankfulness is external. When we practice gratitude, we rely on our inner voice to stay positive and remain appreciative in all circumstances. So, let’s take action to have gratitude always.