Gratitude is good for you
The Traveler Editorial Board
Issue date: 11/24/08 Section: Opinion
A word about gratitude seems appropriate in the days before Thanksgiving. What ordinarily seems optional or even expendable to Americans - the gracious acknowledgment of material and emotional comforts - acquires importance when what ordinarily occupies their time is suspended specifically to allow for the conscious cultivation of gratefulness.
How important is gratitude, really, though? Was the notion designed with kitschy editorials in mind? Or is thanksgiving as important as its national holiday status implies?
If people wish to have more energy, develop more enthusiasm, avoid aches and pains, sleep better, find it easier to exercise, lower their blood pressure and earn the affection of others, then gratitude is every bit as important as the government endorsement of a day off implies - because studies show gratitude grants its practitioners precisely these benefits.
Gratitude, it would seem, is an all-purpose panacea for what ails Americans. Grateful individuals even place less importance on material goods - a trait Americans facing economic turmoil might find peace in possessing. Researchers Robert A. Emmons, of the University of California, Davis, and Michael E. McCullough, of the University of Miami, report grateful people also exhibit higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality and optimism, and lower levels of depression and stress.
Even if nothing else does, selfishness should compel gratitude. So, give thanks - people will like you better if you do. Science proves it.
How important is gratitude, really, though? Was the notion designed with kitschy editorials in mind? Or is thanksgiving as important as its national holiday status implies?
If people wish to have more energy, develop more enthusiasm, avoid aches and pains, sleep better, find it easier to exercise, lower their blood pressure and earn the affection of others, then gratitude is every bit as important as the government endorsement of a day off implies - because studies show gratitude grants its practitioners precisely these benefits.
Gratitude, it would seem, is an all-purpose panacea for what ails Americans. Grateful individuals even place less importance on material goods - a trait Americans facing economic turmoil might find peace in possessing. Researchers Robert A. Emmons, of the University of California, Davis, and Michael E. McCullough, of the University of Miami, report grateful people also exhibit higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality and optimism, and lower levels of depression and stress.
Even if nothing else does, selfishness should compel gratitude. So, give thanks - people will like you better if you do. Science proves it.
Be the first to comment on this story