Gratefulness: Not Just for Thanksgiving Anymore

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues, but the parent of all of the others.” – Cicero

Over the last couple of decades, one of the most promising emerging topics of study in psychology and mental health focuses not on something we might expect. There is ongoing research, of course, on topics such as medications like SSRIs and SNRIs, meditation and mindfulness, and new approaches to psychotherapy. But I’m referring to exciting research about something quite simple, something that every one of us can benefit from. Researchers have been looking into the effects of gratitude.

For example, a basic study from 2015 of 293 college-age adults divided participants into three treatment groups. The first group was enrolled in a psychotherapy program. The second was enrolled in a psychotherapy program and underwent expressive writing about stressful events. The third was enrolled in a psychotherapy program and underwent gratitude writing. The gratitude-writing group showed significant improvement in wellbeing over the other two.

In other research, gratitude has been shown to be associated with lowered symptoms of anxiety and depression. Other studies have shown that gratitude is associated with positive emotions, wellbeing, and a tendency to help others. It is also negatively associated with unpleasant emotions such as envy. And unsurprisingly, gratitude is also correlated with general life satisfaction.

How to take advantage of the benefits of gratitude? One approach might be to try to identify aspects of your life that you might be taking for granted — e.g., robust health, living in Canada, a great yoga teacher, regularly having a fridge filled with food, access to Zoom during a pandemic — and take a moment every now and then to have an internal smile about them as you ponder what you would be missing without them.

Another, more systematic approach would be to start daily gratefulness journaling. The idea here is that before bed, you try to describe three to five things about your day that you were grateful for. Maybe the weather was wonderful. Maybe you got to wear your favorite shirt. Maybe there was less traffic than usual. Maybe you met with a great friend.

And now for an exciting reveal. If you ever worry that there aren’t enough things to be grateful for, or you’re annoyed that you keep repeating the same items, fear not. Repetition is fine. After all, this is something you’re grateful for. It’s worth reminding yourself more than just once. Repeat as often as you like.

But further, you can “cheat.” Not only is it perfectly OK to cheat, but I actually encourage you to cheat. Here’s what I mean. That great friend you met with today? They can be much, much more than just one gratitude item. How? Why not list every reason (big and small!) why you’re grateful for your friend. One gratitude item thus becomes … well, pretty much as many as you want.

So … what are you grateful for today?