November 23rd, 2022 by Janet Chen
The article “The Importance of Gratitude on Your Well-Being,” by Institute of Youth (Oct 2021) says that society has lost touch of the meaning of gratitude. As children we are taught to say thank you for gifts, whether we like the gift or not. We are also taught to say thank you when people perform niceties such as opening the door or serving us. We may or may not really be grateful for these acts of kindness and service.
The Institute of Youth says that the lack of gratitude in our society is understandable, because real gratitude requires reflection and stillness. They believe that in our busy and overstimulated lives people don’t take the time to slow down and reflect. They think this lack of introspection, impacts our overall well-being for several reasons:
Practicing Gratitude
It’s not hard to start practicing. Start small with making a list of things you are grateful for, writing gratitude letters and telling someone you appreciate them.
Other ideas:
This season there is so much to be grateful for! Let’s focus on positive things – like what we have – instead of what we don’t have.
Please see the Institute of Youth (Oct 2021) article for more information.