Positive Psychology – If youre feeling low or are stuck in slump How do you deal with it? Do you resort to self-medication, junk food, & shopping. ? A healthy, effective method to overcome the trance of emotions is to develop habit of gratitude. little bit of gratitude turns things that you own into wealth. Gratitude is not just about telling someone thank you. Gratitude changes your perception of life.
However, youre left wondering where to look for positivity when things seem to be so dark? Find out how to recognize positives when that theres no reason to be thankful. In addition, we will discuss value of gratitude & how you can demonstrate it to others as well as share your gratitude & appreciation videos.
Before you go on, we thought that you would be interested you downloading three gratitude exercises free of charge. Detailed & scientifically based exercises will assist either you or clients to connect to positive emotions more often & reap rewards of gratitude.
What is Gratitude: Its Meaning & Definition
It is feeling that is similar to gratitude. It is feeling that can be compared to appreciation. American Psychological Association [n.d.] further defines characteristic as feeling of gratitude & happiness due to an unexpected incident or tangible reward.
Gratitude is a state of mind as well as a personality trait [Jans Beken & co. [2020]. More precisely, one may be grateful for an individual or for something at any point at particular time. Also, people can experience gratitude greater in long run in form of positive character quality.
As per research of Dr. Robert Emmons, feelings of gratitude are based on two steps [Emmons & McCullough, 2003]:
It starts with acknowledging positive things in life. With sense of gratitude & acceptance, we affirm our faith in living life. We believe that everything in life is enjoyable & includes factors that contribute to its worthwhile to live. Recognizing that weve been given something is source of satisfaction in both its existence & amount of effort that recipient put into selecting gift.
A second reason for gratitude is recognition that source of happiness originate outside of self. You can express gratitude to creator of our universe, animal species, humans & even universe, however, not self. As we age we are able to recognize good of our lives & we know whom to be grateful for it.
Phases of gratitude
The two phases of gratitude are realization of goodness that exists in our lives as well as way it came about. As we go through this we can recognize blessings of everything that enhances our lives as well as ourselves.
Furthermore, gratitude could be thought of as either an attribute of person or quality of life.
In course of their lives, people practice gratitude in daily routine [McCullough & co. 2002] It is considered to be quality of character. It is essential to recognize that gratitude is an attribute which can be cultivated through awareness & practice.
A person who experiences emotions of someone expressing gratitude to them, its described as state [Watkins & co. 2009.].
Gratitude & Positive Psychology What is Connection?
We all know that positive psychology is focus on positive attitudes & actions. Its theories include optimism, hope and, youre guessed it gratitude [Iodice & co. 2021].
In context of Seligmans PERMA model that incorporates positive emotions & relationships, engagement, significance & accomplishments key positive emotion is gratitude [Lianov 2021].
Robert Emmons has led positive psychologys growth in research into significance of gratitude. Emmons has published several research papers regarding psychology behind gratitude. They have shown that feeling happier can bring greater levels of well being [Emmons & Crumpler,].
The work of Emmons is also focused on religion & gratitude & how gratitude to an innate power can increase physical fitness [Krause & others. [2015]]. We will discuss more about relationship between gratitude & religion in coming days.
Why Is It Important to Be Grateful?
Passmore Oades & Oades [2016] affirm that, as expectations have changed level of gratitude is declining in Western society. pursuit of health & possessions is goal for majority of people. But are not perceived personal blessings that are valued. Gratitude has, for many, been replaced by disappointment, anger & resentment when these expected blessings either do not appear or they disappear [Passmore Oades & Oades 2016 [p. 43].
It has been our experience that gratitude can help to focus attention on positive things in their lives. act of gratitude can assist in building & keep relationships with people which can lead to hope as well as satisfaction with life & more active behavior towards other people [Passmore & Oades, 2016,].
If youre still not convinced You might want to go through one of suggested books by Gratitude books section.
The Importance of Gratitude in Life
The quality of gratitude is directly related to well being [Jans Beken & others. in 2020; Wood et al. 2010,]. benefits of feeling gratitude can be endless.
The study has found that gratitude can positively impact psychological wellbeing, social well being as well as mental wellbeing [Jans Beken & colleagues. in 2020]. This is not surprise since it is key predictor of wellbeing & other desirable life outcomes [Portocarrero & co. 2000, p. 6.].
It is believed that gratitude has an impact on others. When someone is feeling grateful & appreciation, theyre more likely to appreciate assistance & later give back that assistance [Wood & co. [2010]]. people who have been acknowledged will likely give help to other people at some point in future.
Also, those who dont receive acknowledgement might not give back in future. Giving thanks can benefit both individual as well as society [Bono & others. [2004]].
In addition concept of gratitude can be found of various faiths. As an example [Passmore & Oades, 2016,],
- Buddhism & gratitude are manifestation of notion of dependence & implies that all is interconnected. In case of Buddhists awareness of interdependence & interconnectedness of our life inspires gratitude to interconnected web of life that supports our lives.
- Judaism Individuals who follow Judaism can begin their morning with Modeh Ani short Hebrew blessing that expresses gratitude to God for his blessings on their lives.
- Christianity religion of Christianity Christians express their gratitude for God by declaring blessings. They say these blessings in form of prayer & are crafted to help with family, food & all other blessings God might provide.
In case you required additional evidence to believe it, in their review of literature Cregg as well as Cheavens [2021] discovered that gratitude is associated with an association with positive mood, life happiness & extraversion. It also has positive association with forgiveness as well as negative association with addiction & neuroticism & an opposite correlation between gratitude, anxiety & depression.
What is definition of gratitude & how can we get more of it each day?
The act of gratitude is taking note of & appreciating positive events that occur, which results in an appreciation state [Sansone & Sansone in 2010].
When we reflect on our gratitude deep & overt events, situations & incidents are brought in our thoughts. There are times when we feel sense of gratitude for our family, education & friends, job that is healthy as well as chance to further our educational qualification. Though acknowledging & being thankful for these opportunities is essential however, practice of gratitude should also go beyond level of surface.
Under surface there are everyday every day pleasures that typically arent noticed. There could be an excellent story we have read, laughing at party or perhaps delight of consuming ice cream in sun. Whatever simple pleasures might be, actively expressing our gratitude to them could aid us in extending your daily practice of gratitude to go beyond what is visible.
It is our wish that you consider whole iceberg of your gratefulness, blessings of your moments in life & simple every day delights.
The Importance of Thanksgiving
If youre located in North America, then cornucopia as well as turkey, Pilgrims as well as Native Americans may come to thoughts when you hear term Thanksgiving. word Thanksgiving can be more generally defined as time to express gratitude. Some countries like Grenada, Saint Lucia & Liberia are also celebrating Thanksgiving, as do countries such as Brazil as well as Philippines have it as non official holiday [Vicens 2022].
There are also celebrations in Netherlander town Leiden as well as Leiden, Australian area that is Norfolk Island also celebrate this day [Vicens 2022]. Similar to this, Germany, United Kingdom & Japan are also celebrating harvest celebration in fall in which people give gratitude.
Why is whole holiday devoted to offering gift of gratitude?
Many people believe that Thanksgiving is collective ritual that celebrates material abundance through feasting. [Wallendorf & Arnould, 1991; 13]. 13.]. significance of Thanksgiving is that its time designated to remind us to take moment to reflect on our blessings. lot of us are distracted by our daily routines that we forget to look around & appreciate our good fortunes.
In order to show gratitude & be grateful There is no need to observe an occasion to display gratitude. It is important to practice gratitude regularly.
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