Want to Feel 25% Happier? Just Say “Thank You!”

The YOU docs from “The Dr. Oz Show” have discovered what we at Dharma have known for quite awhile, expressing gratitude makes the world a better place. The doctors suggest people who practice this virtue feel 25% happier. We dont have to single-handedly stop global warming or cure the common cold to improve the world around us. Expressing heartfelt thank you’s has a powerful ripple effect, both in our personal life and our business life.

But gratitude is more than muttering a quick “Thanks” or texting it’s shorthand version, “Thx”. Genuine thankfulness is:

1. Exercisng your emotions. Feeling thankful comes in part from counting your blessings every day (this iPhone APP gratitude journal is a great idea). Maintaining a grateful outlook means keeping it up in the same way that a 30-minute daily walk keeps your heart and hips healthy
2. Not For Wimps. Cultivating gratitude isn’t always a warm and fuzzy experience, says gratitude researcher Robert Emmons. Try to feel grateful on grim days, too — the car overheated, you got soaked in a sudden downpour, your kid flunked algebra … again. Saying thanks for the good things in life on even very bad days “requires contemplation, reflection and discipline,” Emmons says. “It can be hard work.” But it will get you through tough spots.
3. In The Details. A great thing about gratitude is that it puts you in the larger moment. Or it can, IF you take the time to discover all the specific good stuff in your life. Once you start looking, we bet you’ll find plenty to be grateful for.
4. Not the same as “I owe you one.” Feeling indebted isn’t necessarily the same as the heart-on-your-sleeve connection you get with pure, open gratitude. In fact, kindred spirits don’t get a boost in satisfaction and closeness when one partner feels indebted to the other. It takes emotional honesty and a little bit of vulnerability to make that spot inside you melt.
5. Not a now-and-then thing. We humans seem hardwired to share a warm sense of appreciation with others, and often. It’s part of the good glue that holds relationships together. Release your gratitude into the world by committing to a couple of daily “thank yous” (at work, at home, to the driver who lets you merge, etc.) Write a special note to someone who’s been important in your life. Spread gratitude around. And do express thanks to the higher power in your life.

We thank you for taking the time to visit our blog and we invite you to tell us what you are grateful for today. Gratitude Matters!