What is Gratitude? It’s thanking someone for a gift or for something that was done for you. That’s the one most people know and think of when they see that word.
So what does it mean to get an attitude of gratitude?
Table of Contents
What does gratitude mean?
From Wikipedia:
- Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness, from the Latin word gratus ‘pleasing, thankful’, is a feeling of appreciation felt by and/or similar positive response shown by the recipient of kindness, gifts, help, favors, or other types of generosity, towards the giver of such gifts.
- The experience of gratitude has historically been a focus of several world religions. It has also been a topic of interest to ancient, medieval and modern philosophers, and continues to engage contemporary philosophers.
From Psychology Today website:
- Gratitude is a spontaneous feeling but, increasingly, research demonstrates its value as a practice—that is, making conscious efforts to count one’s blessings. Studies show that people can deliberately cultivate gratitude—and there are important social and personal benefits to doing so. It is possible to feel grateful for loved ones, colleagues, animals, nature, and life in general. The emotion generates a climate of positivity that both reaches inward and extends outward.
From Commonsense Media website:
- Gratitude is different from other caring emotions such as empathy and compassion because it’s learned. That’s good news, as there are many ways to teach it and model it for your kids. Taking the time to appreciate what you have is one of the keys to cultivating gratitude. Creating a “grateful environment” at home can help kids carry gratitude into the online world as well.
But what is an ATTITUDE of Gratitude?
Quite simply it means to express gratitude for all you have on a regular basis. Some people say they haven’t got anything to be grateful for.
I say that we all have things to be grateful for. A roof over our heads, food, something to drink, the air that we breathe even the fact that we wake up each morning.
And the grumps will say, but others have so much more, so I can’t be grateful when others have more.
I say, the more grateful you are, the more you have to be grateful for. Once you start being grateful you find more and more to be grateful for.
The benefits of gratitude
- Gratitude may be one of the most overlooked tools that we all have access to every day. Cultivating gratitude doesn’t cost any money and it certainly doesn’t take much time, but the benefits are enormous. Research reveals gratitude can have these seven benefits:
- Gratitude opens the door to more relationships
- improves physical health
- improves psychological health
- enhances empathy and reduces aggression
- people sleep better
- it improves self-esteem
- increases mental strength
With giving gratitude, people are acknowledging the good that they have in their lives.
Gratitude helps people feel more positive mentally and emotionally. They tend to enjoy good experiences much more, it improves their overall health, helps them deal with adversity so much better, as well as helping to build strong relationships.
How does it affect the brain?
Gratitude can boost the neurotransmitter serotonin and activate the brain stem to produce dopamine. When you feel grateful, you can experience the synchronised activation of many parts of your brain at the same time, giving you many positive effects.
Our minds apparently cannot focus on both positive and negative information at the same time. So by consciously practicing gratitude regularly, we can train the brain to feel the more positive emotions and thoughts which can then reduce feelings of anxiety.
When you get an attitude of gratitude it makes a big difference to your life.
What is the difference between Gratitude and Thankfulness
- Grateful and thankful are expressions or sentiments of appreciation. The two terms are very close in meaning, and as they are synonyms of each other, they share similar attributes. However, there is a difference in the manner in which they are used. Although they appear to offer the same concept, the essence of being grateful goes deeper than being thankful. There are always positive feelings attached to a grateful and thankful person. The close contact between the two words is expressed in a quote from Swiss writer and philosopher Henri Frederic Amiel who wrote:
- Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude.
- Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness
So despite their similarities, they are actually different.
Being thankful is more of a brief feeling in return for something and is often an automatic response. Being grateful is a deliberate action, something that is practised often until it is a habit.
How do you start?
You can write a list each day of what you are grateful for. Or list them in your head as you go off to sleep. It’s good to list all the things you were grateful for during the day.
It is also an excellent start to the day to list everything you are grateful for. A roof over your head, clothes, food to eat, loved ones etc.
Some get a gratitude journal preferring to write the list down, others, like me, just list them all in their head. Of course you could list them in your phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer.
Conclusion
So getting a gratitude habit is good for you. It’s good for health, physical and mental, sleep, self esteem, relationships and more.
Overall it is good for you as it makes you happier too. I really have found that the more grateful you are the more you have to be grateful for.
If you are happier stress is less likely to be a problem too.
Sounds daft but it actually does work. Give it a try and see if it helps you.
Thank you for visiting. If you enjoyed the post please share.
Questions and comments welcome.
Hello there!
Thats a very motivating and impactful article there. People usually ignore the importance of gratitude, not knowing gratitude has a huge role to play in the life of a person. I hope many people come across this article and really see and realize that gratitude can actually and truly change one’s life.
Thanks for that awesome masterpiece.
Thank you for commenting.
Gratitude has a very powerful impact and as you say, can literally change your life for the better.
Glad you enjoyed it. Hope it helped you too.
Thank you so much for sharing us an interesting and excellent article. The principal content of this article is to get an attitude of gratitude. It is truly admirable that you have demonstrated this topic so well in your article. I have learned a lot by reading your article and gained a lot of cognition about gratitude. Of the points mentioned in your article, I like the benefits of gratitude. Expressing gratitude brings out a peace of mind that I have gained from my personal experience. So I would say people should have a sense of gratitude towards people.
Finally, I enjoyed reading your article and I’d like to share your article in my Facebook group if you give me permission.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and comment.
I agree that people should feel gratitude towards other people, it’s all part of being grateful every day. It can be a life changing habit to get into.
I am glad you enjoyed the post and am happy to give permission for you to share the post in your facebook group.
Hello there, thank you for sharing this uplifting and motivational article. It is often surprisingly easy to forget to grateful for the little things as you chase after the bigger ones and easily one develops an attitude of entitlement. It is very important to be grateful for all you have done, experienced or received as it sets about a positive attitude in your life
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. Yes, you have got it exactly.
Thee is so much readily available nowadays that a sense of entitlement is easy to feel and grow into.
Being grateful does give a more positive attitude but also somehow, when practiced regularly, brings more good things to be grateful for.
Hello there showing appreciation is very good but not everyone can be good at doing it. It’s really great when I buy toys for anyone who is very good at showing appreciation. These days I have to say I am really happy about such a development that helps people show gratitude.
Thanks for sharing this article.
You are very welcome, glad you enjoyed the article. Appreciation/gratitude is very important, not just for children, although it starts there of course. If thy learn to appreciate gifts when they are young they will hopefully continue to appreciate all they have in the future.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Linda