I was chatting to my daughter about gratitude the other day and then I remembered one of my favorite films ‘Pay it Forward’. The film is about a young boy who partakes in random acts of kindness to change the world for the better. We decided that we would focus on this and chat about what we’ve done each day.
Gratitude is an important part of our every day life and we express thanks to family, friends and colleagues in various ways. It encourages us to appreciate what we have in our life and to pay them forward. To sociologist Georg Simmel gratitude is the ‘moral memory of mankind’.
Benefits
Experiencing and expressing gratitude is an important part of our daily lives. It opens the heart and activates the positive emotion centres of the brain. Regular practice of gratitude can change the way our brain neurons fire into more positive and automatic patterns…..Gratitude is an emotion of connectedness and this reminds us we are part of a larger universe.
Dr Robert Emmons (researcher and writer on gratitude, University of California) has discovered how gratitude gives life meaning. However he says it is a ‘chosen attitude’ which needs to be cultivated which can take effort. He says ‘Without gratitude, life can be lonely, depressing and impoverished…Gratitude enriches human life. It elevates, energizes, inspires and transforms. People are moved, opened and humbled through expressions of gratitude.’ With eight years of research on this topic he has found gratitude:
Read More