Gratitude Matters

​Grateful living is important in the world because in our constant pursuit of more and better we can easily lose sight of the riches that lay right in front of us and within us. ~ Guri Mehta

A final New Year reflection - I've chosen Gratitude as my #OneWord2019. (Last year's was Courage) As defined by Wikipedia, "Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness, from the Latin word gratus ‘pleasing, thankful’, is a feeling of appreciation felt by and/or similar positive response shown by the recipient of kindness, gifts, help, favors, or other types of generosity"
Robert Emmons, a leading researcher on gratitude, argues that gratitude has two key components:

1. "It’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.”
2. "We recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves. … We acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mindset—gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.”

While there is certainly a 'feeling' component to gratitude, it is important to note that one can choose to be grateful (or not). One of the best known illustrations of this comes from The Hiding Place, where Corrie Ten Boom describes choosing to be grateful for the fleas in her concentration camp dormitory because they kept the guards away.
Research indicates there are a number of benefits to developing an attitude of gratitude, some of which are described in the following video.

I live a life of abundance - family, material blessings, work that matters, co-workers who inspire, health, and too many opportunities to count; I choose to be grateful.