“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.” – Aesop
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Many years ago, when my husband and I were just newlyweds, I came home from work one night and complained about something. I honestly don’t remember what it was. Maybe it was something I wanted but didn’t have, or maybe it had to do with work. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t happy about it.
Now I’m not normally a dissatisfied person. I’m more of a glass-half-full type, but I guess I was tired and out-of-sorts, and I let hubby know it.
My husband is a guy who loves math and science, and he’ll use any excuse in a conversation to bring up something that has to do with numbers. Percentages are especially dear to him, and Frank dropped a number into our conversation that night that wasn’t just informational—it was a game changer. He said (very matter-of-factly), “Don’t you realize you have more than 99 percent of the people on Earth?”
I’m not sure about the number he used, but his point was well taken. I was grumbling about some minor thing and missing all the majors. My glass wasn’t just half-full. It was overflowing.
I can’t say I’ve never griped about anything else since then, but that conversation made me acutely aware of how fortunate I am. And that knowledge makes each Thanksgiving season a meaningful reminder to count my blessings.
Why is Gratitude Good for You?
I’ve written about gratitude before on TKZ when I referred to findings by Dr. Robert Emmons from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Emmons is a leading expert on the science of gratitude. In his article “Why Gratitude is Good,” he lists a wealth of benefits experienced by people who regularly practice giving thanks. Some of these are
- Stronger immune systems
- Lower blood pressure
- Better sleep
- Higher levels of positive emotions
- Relationship strengthening
- Feeling less lonely and isolated
- Increased daily word count in their writing (Okay, I made that last one up, but it’s probably true.)
Does Gratitude Help Writing?
As a matter of fact, it does. I found another article by Dr. Emmons in UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine where he addresses the creativity aspect of gratitude. While his article was specifically about gratitude in the work environment, its conclusions on the subject of creativity apply to everyone.
Beyond the social sphere of work, gratitude also drives enhanced performance in the cognitive domain: Grateful people are more likely to be creative at work. Gratitude promotes innovative thinking, flexibility, openness, curiosity, and love of learning.
Emmons goes on to observe that researchers at the University of Zurich observed
grateful people were likely to be “idea creators”: successful with developing new and innovative ideas and reaching solutions in unconventional ways.
So it would seem that gratitude is the key to creativity, and creativity is the gateway to writing great novels.
Ted Talk about Gratitude
In addition to all the above, I watched an entertaining Ted Talk given by Shawn Achor on the role of gratitude in achieving success. I’ve embedded the talk below. It’s worth the twelve-minute investment, but if you don’t have the time, here’s a list of things Achor mentions that you can do daily to achieve that state of happiness and creativity. (Notice that naming three things you’re grateful for every day is first on the list.):
Here’s the Ted Talk:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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So TKZers: What three things are you grateful for today?
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Three things I’m grateful for:
- Having the time and resources to write.
- Friendships I’ve made within the writing community.
- Characters Reen and Joanie, the sharpest kid detectives ever, who won’t quit until they find the truth. (Click the image to go to the series page.)
3 things I’m grateful for:
1. He who sustains me
2. Being able to live near the mountains as I always dreamed
3. Family/friends
4. Creativity (had to cheat and add a #4)
Good morning, Brenda. That’s a great list. When I get started on the things I’m grateful for, it’s hard to stop at just three.
Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving.
Kay, your first two items are my choices, also.
#3 is my wonderful husband who’s put up with a crazy writer for more than half a century.
I got a kick out of Frank’s 99%. When things get bumpy, I ask will this (fill in the blank) matter in five years? About 99% of the time, the answer is no.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Frank!
Good morning, Debbie.
I like your 99% comment. Great way to judge whether something is really important.
Frank almost always manages to use a numerical comment to make his point. I suspect many people in this country don’t realize how fortunate we all are.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your husband!
Our yoga instructor always ends the practice with what she’s grateful for, and asks us to do the same. She suggests we go home and write down ten things. Or a hundred. We forget these don’t have to be ‘big things.’
That’s great advice from your yoga instructor, Terry. We tend to focus on the “big things” and forget the semi-infinite number of others.
Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
1. Faith
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Freedom…to write what I want to write and get it into the hands of people who want to read it…but even more:
5. First Amendment
Perfect list, Jim. The Fabulous Five. We should never take such things for granted.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Good Grateful Morning, Kay!
Three things I’m grateful for (in no particular order):
1) That we have been able to live in our home, on our land, for 37 years and counting.
2) That God has blessed us with many friends we know we can count on; and children and grandchildren who are all doing well.
3) That I was working the counter in November of 1987 at a local 7-11 store when my future husband parked his work truck and walked in to get a snack. We met that day and married in January of 1988.
🙂
Have wonderful day!
Those are wonderful things to be thankful for, Deb.
I’d love to read the story of your whirlwind courtship and marriage!
Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving.
Good morning, Kay!
I’m also grateful for the first two things on your list.
#3 is having the opportunity to continue to learn and grow, as a writer and a human being.
Have a wonderful week!
Hello Dale!
I like your #3. We are fortunate indeed!
Like you, I have more than most people on Earth – even chronically ill and disabled for as long as I’ve been.
Because I have the resources to fix what can be fixed, especially being fortunate to have had an assistant for a few hours every week for decades now. The current one is a wonderful bright UCDavis junior who comes twice a week for two hours, and gives me both contact with the current generations and a whole lot of physical help on the things I can’t do by myself. She keeps the coffee plant in our living room watered, and the plants on my balcony, makes me low carb quiches and peach jam, folds my laundry and actually puts it away, and sews!
I learned the value of help way back when I became ill, and decided that, since I had that big shiny STEM PhD and was stuck at home with no energy, I would be competent to homeschool our three children (my husband’s biggest leap of faith in me ever) – back then I could take helpers for three hours three times a week, and we somehow made it through.
Way too many people who are sick like me ALSO have very limited resources, and live a life I couldn’t manage. Our society is NOT generous with the social net – it is grudging, questioned at every budget turn, and often not even a bare minimum to live on for the ill/disabled and their families.
I do have to remind myself of this DAILY, as I wake in a level of pain most people will never have, and put myself back together into some semblance of a human – gratitude is much harder when you’re in pain – but I know perfectly well how privileged I am to have help, and food, and shelter. And I am grateful – without these resources, I would never be able to spend time trying to write.
And I am grateful – more than you know – for places like the Killzone, and other writing blogs, where I can be one of the gang of writers interested in a topic.
Alicia,
Thank you for this thoughtful and eye-opening comment. Most of us have almost certainly never experienced your level of disability, and that makes your outlook all the more poignant.
I’m grateful that you’re a consistent member of the TKZ community, always adding insight and depth to the conversation.
Great post, Kay!
3 things I’m grateful for:
1. God who has blessed me beyond measure by fulfilling my dreams and saving me.
2. The ability to live my writing dream
3. New adventures
Great list, Patricia. Love the new adventures.