Tuesday 21 September 2021, is World Gratitude Day
In March 2019, I published my first paperback book: 142 Days of Gratitude that changed my life forever
It is part memoir, part self-help, part business book all underpinned by science and philosophy.
In it I wrote a chapter about the moral case for gratitude. Given we are living in uncertain times I thought we could reflect for at least a few minutes, the time it takes you to read this article, on the power of gratitude to change our lives for the better.
So here’s my contribution to World Gratitude Day.
The Moral Case for Gratitude, especially in uncertain times
We can express gratitude for all kinds of things and to all sorts of people. From our most intimate and beloved to the person who makes sure our local pool is in excellent condition, through to the farmers and workers across supply chains who grow and deliver our food, and the strangers we may never meet or know, whose ideas and actions have created the world in which we live such; to the people who maintain the vast infrastructure that makes modern life possible; to the scientists who have invested years in new vaccine technology to deliver vaccines that literally save lives. To all the strangers who do things I know nothing about that make my life better in ways of which I’m barely even aware.
Professor Robert Emmons, the world’s leading gratitude researcher, says: “Gratitude is a social emotion. I see it as a relationship-strengthening emotion because it requires us to see how we’ve been supported and affirmed by other people.”[1]
Expressing gratitude is an act of social awareness.
It places us within a web of social connections. It is a profound act of reflection on our relationships and on our place in society. We are part of the world, and the world is part of us.
Gratitude is a moral force; it affects our morals, our relationships, and our societies; it binds people together in relationships of reciprocity and is one of the building blocks of a civil and humane society.
‘Gratitude is the moral memory of mankind’ so says 19th-century German philosopher Georg Simmel.
Ideas about its importance as a moral force for good can be discerned at least as far back as the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero: “In truth, O judges, while I wish to be adorned with every virtue, yet there is nothing which I can esteem more highly than being and appearing grateful. For this one virtue is not only the greatest but is also the parent of all the other virtues.”
By regularly expressing gratitude, by affirming and recognising the goodness around us, we develop a mindset that connects us to the world. We create the “fertile emotional soil which grows concrete actions among particular individuals”, as Simmel put it. This reveals gratitude to be a far more powerful force for good than some people may think. The common characterisation of gratitude as a nice, polite thing to do merely touches the surface of the true magnitude of gratitude as a virtue and moral force for good.
The past two decades have seen a marked increase in the levels of distrust in politics, the media, and banks, institutions we once thought of as unimpeachable in their integrity.
Could practising gratitude help us repair the cracks we’re seeing in society? Could it counter the corruption, greed and narcissism paraded before us in the news headlines each day? If we started to consciously give thanks to the wonderful people and things in our lives, could we collectively reconnect to what is good and build a movement for positive change?
It’s argued that positive other-oriented emotions such as gratitude may have the power to change social cognition, motivation, and social relationships in precisely the ways that are likely to reduce materialistic strivings and their deleterious effects on psychological well-being and the environment.
Paradoxically, though, when we place ourselves front and centre in the world, we seem to diminish our sense of self. As we magnify ourselves, we only get smaller. It’s as if the more material objects we accumulate, the less room there is in our lives for the real substance of people and relationships; the things that indeed make us happy.
However, the practise of gratitude moves us away from myopic thinking. It helps us to uncover connections, find pathways and reveal relationships. It extends our frame of reference from a cropped narcissistic selfie to a panoramic tapestry of life in its fullest glory. We see the good things people do for us and give thanks. In turn, we start to appreciate the difference we can make in the lives of others; the debt of gratitude that we pay forward.
I believe that if enough of us were to practise gratitude consistently, we could shift our thinking at a personal, social and even political level. In recognising and affirming the goodness in others, we could all start to discover the goodness in ourselves.
[1] Professor Robert A. Emmons, ‘Why Gratitude is Good’, (2010), Greater Good Magazine
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142 Days of Gratitude that changed my life forever
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