Gratitude

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For other uses, see Gratitude (disambiguation).

"Thank" redirects here. For the protein symbol THANK, see THANK.

For other uses, see Thank You.

For other uses, see Thanks.

Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. The experience of gratitude has historically been a focus of several world religions,^[1] and has been considered extensively by moral philosophers such as Adam Smith.^[2] The systematic study of gratitude within psychology only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology has traditionally been focused more on understanding distress rather than understanding positive emotions. However, with the advent of the positive psychology movement,^[3] gratitude has become a mainstream focus of psychological research.^[4] The study of gratitude within psychology has focused on the understanding of the short term experience of the emotion of gratitude (state gratitude), individual differences in how frequently people feel gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these two aspects.

Many moons ago Sarah Ban Breathnach introduced Simple Abundance and the Gratitude Journal. I faithfully kept that journal recording 5 things everyday that I was grateful for. I decided that this year I would do something similar on Facebook, beginning on January 1st I posted a quote about being grateful and then in the comments I wrote one thing I am grateful for. Now that I've done one weeks worth of quotes I decided to share them in my blog.

1/1/13

Practice gratitude every day, it won't take long before gratitude is your natural state of being. It is one of the greatest secrets to life. Rhonda Byrne, Day 1 of 365

1/2/13

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude…Friedrich Nietzsche, Day 2 of 365

1/3/13

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

1/4/13

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.”

― Maya Angelou, Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer

1/5/13

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

1/6/13

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”

― John F. Kennedy

1/7/13

    “Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” — Lionel Hampton