Gratitude makes happy people

I now have a new email that allows me to plong whatever I want onto the start page. Yes, it is the google mail. I have calendars, news, weather and today I found something interesting to read. I thought it appropriate to share since the year is coming to an end. As we all finish off the year and bring on the new year, somehow we cannot avoid sitting down to take stock of our lives. It is time to make a list of the things we are thankful for and things we need to work on next year. So let me share what pyschologists today say about gratitude. Here goes:

Friends who praise and appreciate life together get closer to each other and soar higher in their personal and professional lives.

Consider these findings from psychology professors and leading gratitude researchers Robert A. Emmons and Michael E. McCullough:

*People who keep gratitude lists are more likely to make progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions.

*People who keep gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercise more regularly, report fewer physical symptoms, feel better about their lives as a whole, and are more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events.

*Grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of depression and stress. The disposition toward gratitude appears to enhance pleasant feeling states more than it diminishes unpleasant emotions. Grateful people do not deny or ignore the negative aspects of life.

So here it is. Grateful people are happy people. When they learn to count their blessings, their whole world brightens.

It is time to take stock of our lives now. So get ready your pencil and make that list of family and friends you should be grateful for. If you do it tonight, you will have a brighter morning tomorrow when you get up! 

So