| Thank and grow rich - 1 |
I once overheard a thankful city beggar say, "Cheers mate, that's me got a pound. Only another £999,999 to go till my first million."
How the grateful acquisitor got on I'll probably never know.
But a groundbreaking scientific study by Robert Emmons, a university professor and editor of The Journal of Positive Psychology, has shown gratitude to have an enriching impact on health and well-being.
The research found that grateful people experience higher levels of positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness, and optimism.
The practice of gratitude as a discipline apparently also protects a person from the destructive impulses of envy, resentment, greed, and bitterness.
Emmons discovered that grateful folk cope better with everyday stress and may show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress.
And they also appear to recover faster from illness and benefit from greater physical health.
His tome - Thanks! - carries the subtitle, 'How the new science of gratitude can make you happier.'
But the wisdom underpinning the science is as old as time.
St Paul, for example, famously wrote, "give thanks in all circumstances."
Thankfulness isn't an impulse that comes naturally, as Emmons' study bears out. You have to be deliberate about it.
"I effortfully have to redirect ingrained tendencies to take life for granted," he admits himself.
Especially in these financially tighter times, our natural inclination can often be frustration at dreams unfulfilled, both on the domestic and professional front.
Among the author's recommendations are keeping a gratitude journal and visual reminders to be thankful.
If that's too onerous, how about taking my 'seven-day thanks challenge' and keeping a daily note of whatever gives you cause for gratitude?
You may yet thank me for this one! |
