Gratitude: Harnessing the Power of Good
It’s been a tough year for everyone. The COVID-19 pandemic may well have dominated the 2020 news feed, but it’s done so against stiff competition from the many other existential threats to people and planet, most especially climate change.
Now, perhaps more than ever, it’s important that we seek glimpses of light amid the doom and gloom headlines. One positive and highly effective strategy is to make a point of celebrating — daily, if we can — the good things in life. To find the time to switch off the negative and wholeheartedly express our gratitude for all that’s well in our world.
For most of us, this might involve swimming against the psychological tide.
Even in more upbeat times, the human predisposition towards pessimism — our so-called negativity bias — exerts a powerful primal influence on our behavior, leading us to respond more strongly to negative stimuli than to positive ones and to pay greater attention to bad news than good. It’s why we remember the put-downs and not the praise, and why we dwell on past failures when we could be anticipating the joy of forthcoming successes.
Countering this bias is an act of mental rebellion and requires deliberate oppositional action — which is why I believe that practicing gratitude is one of the best habits we can cultivate.
By practicing gratitude, I mean consciously recognizing, naming and appreciating the goodness in our lives. This simple routine roots us firmly in the present and frees us to focus on the abundance we enjoy every day, rather than giving airtime to those things we feel we’re missing. Importantly, it allows us to acknowledge a profound connection to the world around us.
There’s plenty of science-based evidence to confirm that the positive effects of expressing gratitude are far from theoretical.
The majority of studies on the subject have shown that gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with a sense of overall well-being. It’s also been linked to measurable improvements in physical and psychological health. Research by eminent Professor of Psychology Robert Emmons has not only shown that grateful people harbor markedly lower levels (23 percent less) of stress hormones but that practicing gratitude also decelerates the effects of age-related neurodegeneration.
Like many of our deeply ingrained mindsets, gratitude is a habit that, once established, can bring many benefits, allowing us to naturally prioritize positive emotions, fully appreciate moments of happiness and build resilience against life’s inevitable setbacks.
I feel I can unreservedly recommend the practice because I’ve witnessed the profound changes it has brought about in others — and experienced its transformational power in my own life. One of the reasons I fell in love with my wife was because of her truly inspiring commitment to finding — and expressing gratitude for — the beauty in life. Without fail, she takes time when she wakes up and before she goes to sleep to detail the many things that she’s thankful for; in the years that I’ve known her I’ve never seen her skip this daily ritual.
Gratitude is a practice that can be easily extended into the workplace. At IWBI, we’ve lately been opening our webcasts by asking our speakers to share their experiences of COVID-19 silver linings. While our reflex action may be to consider the terrible losses many of us are coming to terms with, there’s lots to be thankful for, too. Every day I’m humbled by those who continue to work on the front lines throughout this crisis — the teachers, health care professionals and mail service workers, and countless others who selflessly serve our communities.
As we enter the last few weeks of the year, many of us will be wondering what 2021 will hold. There’s good reason to be hopeful; we’ve heard some big announcements about the promise of an effective vaccine in the coming months. But we’re not out of the woods yet and we’ll need to draw on deep reserves of mental resilience if we’re to keep moving forward.
Against this backdrop, taking time to acknowledge what’s good is a powerful exercise for individuals and organizations alike: it’s like stepping into the sunshine and basking in the glow, enjoying even for a moment all the warmth it brings.
We have plenty of voices giving us the bad news. What if each of us committed to amplifying the good? We shouldn’t feel guilty about finding joy in times of crisis. Sharing our joy can inspire others to find the light even in this darkest of times.
Rachel Hodgdon is President and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), a public benefit corporation and the world’s leading organization focused on deploying buildings, communities and organizations to advance a global culture of health.
