Thanksgiving Special - The Power Of Gratitude
Wisdom traditions throughout the world encourage people to be grateful. And we're all grateful. Sometimes. Have you ever thought about the deep effects of gratitude and what it might be able to do to increase your personal power and quality of life? If so, have you considered the ways you might build more of it to increase the desirable effects? In this special Thanksgiving episode, we explore the nature of gratitude and what it means in our lives.
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Thanksgiving Special - The Power Of Gratitude
It is perhaps a cliché to talk about gratitude on Thanksgiving. It's built into the name of the day after all. The holiday is born of Christian roots. The pilgrims gathered hundreds years ago to give thanks to God for their hard but free life in the new world. It's not strictly a Christian holiday. Giving thanks is an important part of nearly all religions. The feeling and act of gratitude is one of the most fundamental components of living the best life we can. Do you ever wonder why that is and how exactly it works?
The feeling or act of gratitude is one of the fundamental components of living the best life we can.
The benefits of gratitude have been noted throughout history. Over 2,200 years ago, Cicero called gratitude the greatest and mother of all virtues. Another great Roman thinker, Seneca, considered ingrates to rank below thieves, rapists, and adulterers. British philosopher David Hume considered ingratitude to be among the most horrid and unnatural crimes while Scottish philosophe, Adam Smith, whose thoughts helped form the philosophy that led to the American founding considered gratitude vital for maintaining a society based on goodwill.
Though the knowledge of gratitude-borne social good is foundational in the wisdom traditions of the world, it's only been studied intentionally and rigorously relatively until then. Most studies that inform the state-of-the-art knowledge have been conducted over the past years with the onset of the Human Potential Movement. What have they found that was not known via ancient wisdom? Not very much. That's not to say there aren't some interesting tidbits and potential for further discovery.
In this episode, we take the occasion of Thanksgiving to take a closer look at gratitude and what it means in relation to our personal power. In a white paper entitled The Science of Gratitude, UC, Berkeley researcher, Summer Allen, comprehensively describes the psychological landscape of gratitude. It begins with a not-so-simple question, "What is gratitude?" Robert Emmons and Cheryl Crumpler said in an important 2000 paper that gratitude has been conceptualized as an emotion, a virtue, a moral sentiment, a motive, a coping response, a skill, and an attitude.
Three years later, Emmons, this time in association with Michael McCullough, issued an influential definition of gratitude. They claimed two components. 1) Recognizing one has obtained a positive outcome, and 2) Recognizing an external source for that outcome. Research on the topic is tricky because there aren't hard and fast demarcations for these things in our physical and mental makeup.
How we decide to define gratitude has a profound impact on subsequent findings. Complications emerge. For instance, it remains unclear to what degree gratitude is a trait, a mood, or an emotion. Another pesky one is the relationship between gratitude and appreciation. To what degree are they the same thing? This is a matter of no small debate.
Nevertheless, researchers march on in an effort to better understand the power of gratitude. There are at least five formal tests that attempt to quantify the levels and capacities of gratitude in individuals. They have amusing names such as the Gratitude Adjective Checklist, Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test, Transpersonal Gratitude Scale, the GQ-6, and Multi-Component Gratitude Measure. The idea behind these instruments is to establish baselines and norms against which we may test influential factors and resultant outcomes. The use of these measurements has shed some light on this area while, at least to date, results lack conclusiveness.
We, therefore, must be a bit careful with whatever conclusions we make, but that's nothing new. It's the case with most of the science of the human condition. That's why it's best to think of the assertions as flashlights and mirrors, not as precise measures. Flashlights and mirrors are very useful. What do the ones being used to explore the nature of gratitude suggest that can help us with our decision-making?
The benefits indicated by research are many and important. This is no surprise as they have been observed throughout human civilization. Here are those listed by Dr. Allen that have positively correlated research outcomes. 1) Increased physical and psychological health. 2) Increased happiness and life satisfaction. 3) Decreased materialism. 4) Fuels other virtues such as patience, humility, and wisdom. 5) More socially integrated. 6) More generous, kind, and helpful. 7) Have better relationships. 8) Create a better workplace climate. That's a pretty impressive list. We could all use more of these.
If we accept that it's a good idea to nurture our gratitude, what stops us? In other words, what is it about us humans that reduces our feelings and expressions of gratitude? Researchers identify four major culprits. First, envy or jealousy focusing on what others have that we lack is the opposite of gratitude. It erases the feeling as it replaces the benefits with feelings of lack and scarcity. It's impossible to manifest our power when we're envious.
Gratitude: It is impossible to manifest our power when we're envious.
The second is materialism. This is valuing things over experiences and relationships. It's a false god. People who pursue material things eventually discover they don't provide the panacea of benefits they imagined. They find that no matter how much they get, it's never enough. Gratitude is the last thing people in this place feel. The treasures of life and our personal power are in the quality of our relationships and the positive impact we have on people.
Number three is narcissism. This is the worship of oneself. When we imagine that we are superior, deserving, and entitled, we cut out the possibility of feeling grateful when we receive gifts, whether they come from other people, divine, or circumstantial sources. Number four is cynicism. This is the negative tint in the window of human exchange marked by suspicion, doubt, bitterness, distrust, pessimism, and sarcasm. Such an outlook is not fertile ground for feelings of gratitude.
Another complication in building gratitude is what is referred to as headwinds/tailwinds asymmetry. That's a fancy way to say how easy or hard we perceive some good we receive to be given. It impacts how we feel about it. Something easy or small has less gratitude-generating impact than something we think requires more effort, energy, and thought. What can we do to overcome such obstacles? Wherever we are in our levels of gratitude, how can we build more of it? Researchers have potential answers. They call them gratitude interventions. Dr. Allen lists six such well-researched actions we may take to build our gratitude actively and intentionally. They may be very well worth looking into, even giving it a go.
1) Counting blessings. This is the practice of taking an inventory of the things for which we're grateful. We might journal perhaps daily or weekly, creating a list of such gifts. Some suggest imposing a number such as five. At the end of every day, we could write the five things for which we're most grateful that we experienced that day. 2) Three good things. This is like counting blessings but taking it one step further. We write down three things for which we're grateful but we also go on to identify the causes of those good things. 3) Mental subtraction. This is a thought experiment where we envision what life would be if a positive event didn't happen.
It's a George Bailey thing in the classic movie It's a Wonderful Life. After he has given the gift of seeing what the world would be without him being in it, he becomes grateful for everything in his life, even those things that had previously vexed him, symbolized by the broken knob on the handrail of the stairs in his old drafty house.
4) Gratitude letters and visits. We may write a note of thanks to someone for whom we're grateful. We can take that a step further by delivering it in person. 5) Death reflection. We can increase our gratitude when we reflect on the alternative of not being in this world. In a particular study, students were divided into two groups. One reflected on a typical day. The second was asked to imagine their death either in a specific visceral way or a general idea. Subsequent testing found increases in gratitude in the second group. 6) Spending money on experiences, not things. Another series of six studies tracked subjects who had spent money on experiences such as concert tickets and trips against those who made material purchases. The levels of gratitude consistently measured higher among the former group.
We can increase our gratitude when we reflect on the alternative of not being in this world.
The Thanksgiving holiday is intended to be a big gratitude intervention. Sometimes that can be lost in this busyness of cooking, traveling, or accommodating demanding relatives. The spirit of the occasion is better captured when we reflect on what we have, not what we lack. Watch the movie It's a Wonderful Life even if you've seen it a dozen times before. Think about what would be missing in this world if you were not in it. Think about the people who have contributed to your development and well-being. What would the world be like if they weren't in it?
Gratitude: The spirit of the occasion is better captured when we reflect on what we have, not on what we lack.
The promise of our lives is truly beautiful to behold. Ultimately, we experienced deep peace and joy as we better ourselves and put our abilities to work to help others. It isn't easy. We don't have clear paths. We experience setbacks. We disappoint ourselves and others. It's okay. It's part of the journey. It's a long road, but it's the road we're on together. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading. I hope to see you along the road to our full power or our agency in this world. It's the thing we're all here to do. I wish you and all of your loved ones a very happy Thanksgiving. Let's go.