Can we be grateful during tough times?

Contrary to what we may think, researchers are finding people who

are grateful in spite of significant problems.  As the saying goes, 

“what the times get tough, the tough get going.”  One study looked 

at grieving spouses who were dealing with the death of their 

spouse.  At one month after the death of their spouse, 73 percent 

reported something positive.  By eighteen months after the death 

of their spouse, 81 percent had found something to be grateful for.  Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007), 164

A study done at Baylor University looked at caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients.  Half of the caregivers were asked to write in gratitude journals on a daily basis while the other half listed problems and hardships.  At the end of this study, caregivers “who kept gratitude journals experienced an increase in overall wellbeing and a reduction in stress and depression levels from the beginning to the end of the study.”  Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007), 169.

Brother David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine monk and teacher of 

gratitude says this:  “times that challenge us physically, 

emotionally, and spiritually may make it almost impossible for us 

to feel grateful.  Yet we can decide to live gratefully, courageously 

open to life in all its fullness.  By living the gratefulness we don’t 

feel, we begin to feel the gratefulness we life.”  Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude C an Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007), 181.

Benefits of Gratitude--emotional/spiritual

Dr Emmons says in his book, Thanks, that “grateful people experience higher levels of positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness, optimism, and the practice of gratitude as a discipline protects a person from the destructive impulses of envy, resentment, greed, and bitterness. We have discovered that a person who experiences gratitude is able to cope more effectively with everyday stress, may show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress and may recover more quickly from illness and benefit from greater physical health.”  Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007), 11-12.

Psychologist and author, Dr Brenda Wade talks about gratefulness in this Youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEu-9ksoug0&list=PL8669D8BC4BEF2FBF&index=4&feature=plpp_video

Benefits of Gratitude--mental

In his book Thanks, Dr Emmons say “the significance of gratitude lies in its ability, to enrich human life…People are moved, opened, and humbled through experiences and expressions of gratitude…Gratitude is a key to happiness…Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude C an Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007), 12.

A Health.com article entitled, “Want a Happier life?  Try being 

Thankful” gives this information.  “Being grateful increases 

happiness by 25 percent and boosts the amount of time people 

spend exercising (a terrific bonus for those of us who struggle to 

get to the gym).  Being positive even seems to create greater 

equality in dividing up chores between partners.”  http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20411146,00.html

Benefits of Gratitude--Physical

“Gratitude drives out toxic emotions of resentment, anger and envy and may be associated with better long-term emotional and physical health in transplant recipients.”  Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude C an Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007), 66.

Consider what negative emotions and stress causes to our bodies.  When we feel stressed, our body releases the ‘fight or flight’ chemicals (catecholamines such as epinephrine, dopamine and norepinephrine and the stress hormone, cortisol).  Our heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate goes up as our muscles prime for action. This ages-old physical reaction to stress is useful if we need to fight our enemies or outrun a wild tiger chasing after us.  However in modern day society, these chronic stresses and on-going negative emotions can cause the ‘fight or flight’ response to be harmful to us.  Chronic stress and chemical reactions have been shown to depress a person’s immune system.  If you notice you catch colds easier than you did in the past, maybe your immune system is worn down by the stresses of life.  Chronic stress can cause high blood pressure, arthritis flare-ups, acid reflux, insomnia, headaches, chronic back pain and muscle aches.  Researchers are finding that the stress hormone, cortisol, depresses our cellular metabolism and wound healing while it contributes to weight gain.

Numerous studies have shown that gratitude (and the peace that 

comes with it) decreases the negative emotions.  Researchers at the 

University of Connecticut found that recovering heart attack 

patients who “blamed their heart attacks on others were more likely

to suffer yet another heart attack within the next eight years!  On 

the other hand, perceiving benefits and gains from an initial heart 

attack, including becoming more appreciative of life, was related to 

a reduced risk for subsequent attack.”  Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007), 64.  In fact, researchers recognize 

that happiness can add as much as nine years to one’s life. Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude C an Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007), 13.

Gratitude in different religions part !!

The Islamic religion includes gratitude in daily prayers and through the Holy Koran. The opening lines of the Sura Al-Fatiha (the opening chapter of the Koran) give this prayer:

               “In the name of God, most gracious most merciful.

               Praise be to God, the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds;

               Most gracious, most merciful; mast of the day of judgment.

               Thee do we worship and Thine aid we seek.”   Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co, 2007), 97.

The Eastern religions of Buddhism, Hindu and Shinto include 

gratitude in their beliefs and lifestyle.  “In these Eastern 

perspectives, a positive affirmation of life comes from a deep sense 

of gratitude to all forms of existence, a gratitude rooted in the  

essence of being itself, which permeates one’s every thought, 

speech and action.”  Emmons, Robert A., Thanks!  How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, (Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co, 2007), 103.