Gratitude – The Happiness Recipe

Gratitude is appreciation for something we receive.  How many times a day do you say thank you?   If you have kids, you know it is one of the earliest lessons we teach as part of good manners.  We know it is important.  The question is, do we know why? 

As we all prepare for Thanksgiving, gratitude is something that is not far from our minds.  This is the one time of year as a collective everyone is full of gratitude. It is this time of year when we should look around at all we have been blessed with and take recognition of it.   Friends and family not often seen or spoken to throughout the year, surround us.  They are at your dinner table or they call or text you to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.  Social media is covered in wishes for everyone to have a Happy Thanksgiving.  When it is time for turkey, many will go around the table and say out loud what they are most thankful for in their lives be it the food, the family and / or friends that surround us and for today, our heart is full of gratitude.

When you wake up tomorrow will you still feel the same gratitude glow?   Will you feel grateful for the mess you have to clean up after hosting your gratitude dinner?   What about when you jump into your car at 6:00 am to catch the black Friday sales and are required to deal with parking and crowds and people fighting for the limited supplies of whatever is the top of the line item to purchase this year?   If you feel that sense of gratitude slipping away just at that the thought of these experiences, don’t let it.  Gratitude can have so many benefits.   Most importantly, it makes us happy.  I am happy when I make my special “Sweet Potato Biscuits” to share that everyone loves, even my ex-husband.  I am happy with those group texts filled with so much gratitude and love.  If you are experiencing happiness as a result of gratitude, you are increasing your energy, your productivity, your ability to give back, the possibility to increase your income and more.  If you wondering how this is possible, consider the power of positive thinking.   Just the thought of giving can increase dopamine and oxytocin in your brain.  When this happens it disrupts the stress hormones, reduces cravings for sweets, and may result in improved overall health.  So instead of practicing it one day a year, maybe we should be practicing it every day.

In a workshop on gratitude I attended not so long ago, there were several suggestions for gratitude practices.  It can be a practice as simple as, when waking up each morning or before going to bed at night recalling three things from your day in which you were thankful.  Maybe it was as simple as someone with a cart full of groceries letting you in front of them in line or someone held the elevator as you rush to catch it.  It could have been that near miss accident you avoided or maybe it was the longer than usual hug you received from you teenage daughter you didn’t expect.  It can be the simplest thing.  When you remember these things, try to recall the feelings.  You are now activating that dopamine and oxytocin.

You could expand on this and consider a gratitude journal.  This is a practice more and more schools have introduced to their students that increase life satisfaction, improve school performance, and increase GPAs.

Still hungry for more ways to experience gratitude? If you want to dig deeper, building a gratitude practices that goes beyond a daily check in. Below are some more suggestions.

• Send thank you notes, for no reason except that someone makes your life richer for being in it.
• Volunteer!  There are so many opportunities to give back to the community in need.  Think about how much gratitude those that you are helping will have for your gift of time.
• No time? Donate new goods, used goods, or give money.
• Help out your neighbor.  Do you have an elderly neighbor?  Offer to rake their lawn or pick up some groceries while you are at the market.
• Say thank you and remember to feel it when you say it.   Give that dopamine and oxytocin a reason to make you happy!

With today being completely dedicated to gratitude, there is no better time to recognize the warm feeling of being thankful.  No need to let the feeling go.  Wake up tomorrow with the same sense of appreciation.  Sure, it is not a holiday and no one is reminding you that you should be grateful.   It will be harder, without the collective in the same spirit.  Just remember, it is about making you happy and gratitude is contagious.   The more you practice, the more happiness you’re bound to experience and pass on to others.