Gratitude Benefit: Optimism & Generosity

Christopher Bergland in Psychology Today states,

“Recent studies have shown that generosity and gratitude go hand in hand, both at a psychological and neurobiological level. Generosity and gratitude are separate sides of the same coin. They are symbiotic.

"Fortunately, each of us has the free will to kickstart the neurobiological feedback loop—and upward spiral of well-being—that is triggered by small acts of generosity and gratitude each and every day of our lives.

"Why not practice a small act of generosity today?”

Special thanks to the following for their thoughts on gratitude and optimism and generosity:
Pursuit-of-Happines.com
Martha Beck
Fast Company magazine

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Gratitude Mojo is the new, advanced journal for gratitude practice which takes you even deeper into the amazing gifts of gratitude. 

Gratitude Miracles, the 5-minute journal that could change everything! is available at amazon.com. Click Here.

Gratitude Benefit: Passion & Purpose

"When we brim, when we shimmer,

when we glow with love for something, anything,
we become conduits of magic,
and we ourselves become gifts to the world."
-- Melissa Studdard, poet

Researchers focused on developing gratitude and purpose among adolescents report,

"Whereas gratitude involves recognizing all the good things that someone receives from the world, purpose entails considering how one can contribute to the world around them. 

“Indeed, we find these constructs work in tandem; when people feel grateful, they naturally tend to turn towards thinking about how they can give back. In addition, expressing gratitude strengthens relationships, which can then help to guide and support the development of purpose. 

“Therefore, we believe that cultivating a deeper sense of gratitude will help individuals to find a sense of purpose in life."

From: Fostering Gratitude and Purpose among Adolescents
We are a team of researchers at Claremont Graduate University (http://sites.cgu.edu/bronk/) and California State University, Dominguez Hills (http://www.csudhnews.com/2012/09/bono-giacomo/). This project is generously funded by the John Templeton Foundation, in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.

Click here.

Gratitude Mojo is the new, advanced journal for gratitude practice which takes you even deeper into the amazing gifts of gratitude. 

Gratitude Miracles, the 5-minute journal that could change everything! is available at amazon.com. Click Here.

Gratitude Benefit: Resilience

Canadian life coach Ray Samuels defines resilience as “functioning with a sense of purpose, meaning and forward momentum in the face of trauma.”

An example of that kind of trauma was featured in the commencement speech to UC Berkeley graduates in 2016. Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, told her story of the unexpected death of her husband, her family’s grief, and what she learned in the aftermath.

“Dave’s death changed me in very profound ways. I learned about the depths of sadness and the brutality of loss. But I also learned that when life sucks you under, you can kick against the bottom, break the surface, and breathe again. I learned that in the face of the void—or in the face of any challenge—you can choose joy and meaning.”

See more about Sheryl Sandberg’s often humorous and tech-savvy speech here.
See more from Ray Samuels here. 
Special Thanks to:

• 

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   Martin Seligman, Founder and Director of the Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania 
• Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and the founding editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology
• Dr. Joseph Mercola, health expert

Gratitude Mojo is the new, advanced journal for gratitude practice which takes you even deeper into the amazing gifts of gratitude. 

Gratitude Miracles, the 5-minute journal that could change everything! is available at amazon.com. Click Here.

Gratitude Benefit: Creativity

Expressing gratitude for everything in our lives opens us up, makes us look at things in a different way, noticing details, understanding the interrelationships. It keeps us in the moment. We can’t worry about an unpaid bill when we’re thinking about all the ways we’re grateful for the new rose in our garden.

That kind of attention is fundamental to problem-solving and creativity. The positive regard that we feel when we’re practicing gratitude makes us see things in new ways. A well-worn story in creativity tells us about a man walking through a field of burrs. Rather than rant and rail about the discomfort and inconvenience of being stuck, he thought, “Wow! Look how those little hooks catch my socks.” And, thus, velcro was born.

The more we practice gratitude, the more we will notice details and connections that will lead to ideas. And, while all ideas are gifts, not all of them are good ones. Honor them when they come, but be prepared to sort the keepers from the losers.

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Special thanks to:

• Maja at BusinessInRhyme.com
• Theresa Amabile, Baker Foundation Professor and Director of Research at Harvard Business School

Gratitude Mojo is the new, advanced journal for gratitude practice which takes you even deeper into the amazing gifts of gratitude. 

Gratitude Miracles, the 5-minute journal that could change everything! is available at amazon.com. Click Here.

Gratitude Benefit: Contentment

It is easy to be grateful for what we have.

The harder question is how to be content with what we don't have. To say, "This is enough.” Being grateful for every aspect of our lives creates a pathway to contentment.

Joshua Becker at BecomingMinimalist.com says, “Gratitude provides proper understanding of our place in the world. Gratitude is the feeling and expression of thankfulness for the actions of others that are costly to them and beneficial to us.

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“By definition, gratitude requires humility. It requires us to admit we have been the recipient of something we did not deserve. And it calls us to admit there are no entirely self-made men or women. 

“Gratitude opens the door to contentment. It pushes our praise to those who rightly deserve it.

 It causes us to focus on the good things we already have regardless of our present circumstances. It improves our well-being in almost every regard. As a result, it is the surest pathway to contentment.”

Gratitude Mojo is the new, advanced journal for gratitude practice which takes you even deeper into the amazing gifts of gratitude. 

Gratitude Miracles, the 5-minute journal that could change everything! is available at amazon.com. Click Here.

Gratitude Benefit: Wonder

Click here to see the amazing video from Louis Schwartzberg.

One of the most popular gratitude quotes comes from G. K. Chesterton (shown on Week 2). One of his that is not as well known, but is equally great is:

“You say grace before meals.

"All right.

“But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”

 The American Chesterton Society says he was the greatest writer of the 20th century because he was also the greatest thinker of the 20th century.

Obviously he steeped himself in gratitude. 

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Gratitude Mojo is the new, advanced journal for gratitude practice which takes you even deeper into the amazing gifts of gratitude. 

Gratitude Miracles, the 5-minute journal that could change everything! is available at amazon.com. Click Here.

Gratitude Benefit: Connection

We are part of an interconnected world ... connection to ourselves, to each other, to the world of plants and animals, to the inanimate world of oceans and mountains, rocks and clouds. When we feel gratitude for all of those elements, we build our sense of connection and our sense of peace and belonging in the world.

Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence says this about practicing gratitude: “Gratitude isn’t just an emotion that happens along, but a virtue we can cultivate. Think of it as something you practice as you might meditation or yoga.

“Gratitude practice begins by paying attention. Notice all the good things you normally take for granted. Did you sleep well last night? Did someone at work or on the street treat you with courtesy? Have you caught a glimpse of the sky, with its sun and clouds, and had a moment of peace?
“It also involves acknowledging that difficult and painful moments are instructive and you can be grateful for them as well. Directing our attention this way blocks feelings of victimhood.”

Click here.

Gratitude Mojo is the new, advanced journal for gratitude practice which takes you even deeper into the amazing gifts of gratitude. 

Gratitude Miracles, the 5-minute journal that could change everything! is available at amazon.com. Click Here.