Being grateful for whatever happens to you, good or bad, is a skill that every smart person should master. Gratitude makes you happy, motivated and, surprisingly healthy. According to Professor Lisa Aspinwall from the University of Utah, grateful people are more likely to exercise regularly, eat better, cope with stress easier, and have stronger immune systems.
A 2018 study by the University of Texas found that writing a Thank-You note is one of the most powerful ways to deepen your social connections while feeling happy at the same time.
Another study by the University of South Wales found that people are more likely to further cooperate with you if you say thank you for the first time you ask them for a favor or advice. Finally, gratitude can also give you a healthier heart.
1. “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” – Melody Beattie
2. “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley
3. “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” – Melody Beattie
4. “It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.” – Eckhart Tolle
5. “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – William Arthur Ward
6. “Great things happen to those who don’t stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful.” – Roy T. Bennett
7. “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” – Brian Tracy
8. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy
9. “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” – Albert Schweitzer
10. “Thank You is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.”- Alice Walker
11. “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust
12. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus
13. “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” – Alphonse Karr
14. “True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.” – Oprah Winfrey
15. “Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals. If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.” – Roy T. Bennett
16. “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
17. “We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.” – Neal A. Maxwell
18. “True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” – Seneca
19. “Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” – Maya Angelou
20. “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” – Eckhart Tolle
21. “If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” – Meister Eckhart
22. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
23. “Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” – Voltaire
24. “Dance. Smile. Giggle. Marvel. TRUST. HOPE. LOVE. WISH. BELIEVE. Most of all, enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.” – Mandy Hale
25. “Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.” – C.S. Lewis
26. “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward
27. “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” – Anthony Robbins
28. “They do not love, that do not show their love.” – William Shakespeare
29. “The soul that gives thanks can find comfort in everything; the soul that complains can find comfort in nothing.” – Hannah Whitall Smith
30. “Gratitude also opens your eyes to the limitless potential of the universe, while dissatisfaction closes your eyes to it.” – Stephen Richards
Originally published at www.stevenaitchison.co.uk