Gratitude and Happiness

I was reading over the blog from last week and I wanted to let everyone know that gratitude does not always come easy for me.  Some days, I do not feel grateful and can even be negative.
 
But, gratitude has become easier for me as I practice it daily and really try to flex my gratitude muscles.  It seems like practicing gratitude is like working out physically.  Sometimes I don’t want to work out, but when I do, I always get rewards.  This is like practicing gratitude. I don’t always feel like doing it, but when I do, I see the world and everyone in it in a much more positive light.  If I can be consistent and make gratitude part of my routine, the resistance seems to dissipate.

A few years ago, one of my students said, “Mr. Griffith, can we all do a gratitude list together.”  My heart rose and I was so proud of this student.  After I profusely thanked her, she said, “I wanted to do a gratitude list with you because you look so stressed out today.”  That made me laugh, but it showed how people around us can gently remind us to be grateful and help us restart our days to get out of funky moods. 

I was listening to an interesting Podcast from the Ted Radio Hour about Happiness.  Some parts of the Podcast were compelling, especially the portion about gratitude from David Steindl-Rast.

Here is the link for the podcast link.  Check it out if you get a chance:
http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/267185371/simply-happy

David Steindl-Rast is a monk who has written books on gratitude and has a wonderful website, www.gratefulness.org.  This is another site to check out.

In the podcast, David Steindl-Rast said that we have an opportunity every day, every moment to be grateful.  He said the challenge is to stop and notice all that we have around us to be grateful for, like the sky, trees and people.  Last week, I posted about putting little reminders where we see them and be reminded to stay grateful. When I drive,I try to remember to make a mental gratitude list at every red light.  When I do this, I am a happier driver and a happier person.

Taking it to another level, I am trying to develop more gratitude for the people and things in life that really irritate me.  These people can be my biggest teachers, helping me grow in patience, kindness and love.  This is challenging because it goes against my usual reaction.  But, this is where dramatic growth can occur.  The interesting phenomenon here is that when I can be grateful for the people who make irritate me, they don't irritate me so much anymore.  One friend calls these people his spiritual sandpaper.  They do not feel good but they rub off his rough spiritual edges.

In the podcast, another interesting part is when Dan Gilbert talks about how having more “stuff” does not make people happier.  He says that over the past 50 years, people live in bigger houses and have more “stuff”, but the overall happiness level has not increased.  This reminds me that happiness is an inside job; I do not need things on the outside to be happy.  Gratitude helps me be happy regardless of what I have or don’t have.  A better way to put it is that gratitude brings deeper peace.

Here is a quote for you to think about this week:
"To educate is to guide students on an inner journey toward more truthful ways of seeing and being in the world."-Parker Palmer