This article appeared a few days before Thanksgiving, but any time is a good time for thankfulness and gratitude.
Thankfulness on a regular basis can be very rewarding
The Record, Stockton, Calif. - November 22, 2008Nov. 22--As the delicious smells of a fabulous feast waft around the Thanksgiving table this week, thoughts of counting one's blessings often take priority before stuffing one's belly.
For many, however, practicing a daily attitude of gratitude reaps greater rewards than that stuffed feeling you'll endure after your turkey dinner.
"When people are grateful, they experience 'calm energy' -- they feel more alert, alive, interested, enthusiastic. They also feel more connected to others," Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at University of California, Davis, and author of the 2008 book "Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier," said in an e-mail response to questions Tuesday. "Gratitude also serves as a stress buffer. Grateful people (are) less likely to experience envy, anger, resentment, regret and other unpleasant states that produce stress and thwart positive emotions."
Emmons, who is collaborating with colleagues at UC Davis to determine the benefits of gratitude in weight management and overall heart health, said being thankful isn't just emotionally beneficial; it also has physical benefits.
"People exercise more, get better sleep, report more energy and vitality. We are learning that gratitude protects against health-damaging behaviors and promotes healthy behaviors," he noted. "Probably the most exciting finding is that the practice of gratitude can lower blood pressure."
Thankfulness is the hallmark of many faiths -- most often in the form of a nightly prayer, an opening hymn of praise at the start of service or simply as a daily awareness.
"Gratitude is at the very core of the Buddhist teaching," the Rev. Charles Hasegawa of Stockton Buddhist Temple said in an interview Tuesday. "In all forms of our rituals, we always are mindful of our indebtedness to not only individuals but to all living things and everything that enables us to be."
Hasegawa chuckled as he recalled a Thanksgiving-related "Dennis the Menace" cartoon that illustrates his point.
"Dennis asks his parents, What does the turkey have to be grateful for?" he said. "While we are thankful to have our dinner, everything on the table -- most fundamentally the turkey -- was given up for our sake."
Hasegawa said people can be forgetful, but that's easily remedied.
"If we stop to think and reflect, we come to the conclusion that we are the recipients of so much," he said. "So we very humbly express our sense of gratitude and appreciation."
Learning how to practice appreciation for abundance beyond Thanksgiving can also help fend off the stress of Christmas.
"I found this mug at Ross. It says 'Dear Santa: I want it all.' " The Rev. Judith Bither, senior pastor of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Manteca, said Tuesday of the mug she will be using as a talking point. "Let's face it, none of us need any more stuff."
Being thankful and looking for ways to share with others, both hallmarks of the Thanksgiving holiday, are messages Bither is preaching to her congregation.
And taking stock of what one has to be thankful for -- whether through prayer, meditation, journaling or a simple thank you note to a friend -- can be done easily on a daily basis.
Passing that lesson on to children, however, takes a little creativity and is not something that always comes naturally.
Emmons, the researcher, recommends watching for grateful behavior and offering praise when it's identified. Use visual aids to help young children by creating a pictorial collage of what they are thankful for or drawing a tree and adding a leaf with a thank-you on it every day, he says. Parents can model good behavior by texting teens and reminding them to count their blessings or simply telling their children how thankful they are for them.
"It has to be worked on consciously and deliberately," Emmons added. "It takes effort, but everything that is worthwhile does take effort."
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