Thankfulness Checklist

In the United States we are getting close to a special holiday: Thanksgiving. During Thanksgiving, after a special dinner, very often people engage in the classic go-around-the-room-and-say-what-you-are-grateful-for tradition with whatever group has gathered together. Inevitably some people respond by saying they can’t think of anything to be thankful for. Maybe you have felt that way too.

Yet, gratitude is an empowering demonstration of a positive mentality — the only mentality that leads to happiness.

Science backs this up. According to a 2009 study published in the Cerebral Cortex journal, showing gratitude or generosity stimulates the hypothalamus (the portion of the brain that manages stress) and the ventral tegmental area (the portion of the brain that produces the sensation of pleasure). As a result, you get some of those chemicals that make you feel good.

Furthermore, in a 2003 study researchers broke participants into two groups — one group assigned with the task of keeping a short weekly list of the things they were grateful for, while the other group listed inconveniences or everyday events. As you can probably guess, ten weeks later, the first group enjoyed significantly higher life satisfaction than the other.

Therefore, the practice of being grateful and expressing gratitude is one that everyone can benefit from. Doug Andrew suggests that if you or people around you get stuck and have a hard time thinking of what to be thankful for, you can go through a thankfulness checklist:

“Consider how and why you might grateful for each of these”:

• A living person

• A person who has died

• A physical ability

• Material possession

• Something in nature

• A place on earth

• Modern-day invention

• A particular food

• Your home or place of abode

• Your work or an activity you love to do

• God, the universe, or a higher power

This activity can remind you and yours of blessings and can help shift perspectives. No matter how small the advantage, it’s important to express gratitude. And more importantly, to give thanks especially when you don’t feel it — because there is always someone that longs for the thing you take for granted daily. This self-awareness is crucial for abolishing entitlement and reminding you that happiness comes from noticing things you can be thankful for.

Whether it’s in your workplace or within your family, it’s always best to cultivate gratitude and abundance over scarcity and entitlement; to reinforce appreciation rather than envy; to appreciate what you have — and even don’t have, recognizing that all can be an enriching experience.

As you learn to be more thankful–not only at Thanksgiving time, but all the time– you’ll live life more fully and enjoy the journey more. As a result, those around you at work and at home will also feel better and more connected.