Throughout life, when we least expect it, great changes can occur that destabilize us, difficult moments, accompanied by high uncertainty, for which we do not feel prepared. If you think that you do not have enough resources and you cannot control what happens around you, you can experience high levels of stress during appliance repair job, anxiety, sadness, and frustration. Faced with this very complicated situation, especially when you suffer significant losses, there are some words that might seem inappropriate, out of place, such as the word gratitude. But, paradoxically, in those moments of misfortune, gratitude can be the emotion that brings us some light amid so much darkness.

Understanding the Value of Gratitude: Past, Present, and Future

depending on where we direct our attention, whether to the past, the present or the future, we will feel determined positive emotions, very different from each other. For example, if we want to feel good, we can choose to remember pleasant past moments and thus feel satisfaction, pride, serenity, and self-fulfillment. If we focus on the present, joy, calm, enthusiasm, pleasure, and the sensation of flow can appear (what people commonly refer to when they say they feel happy). Positive emotions related to the future include hope, optimism, hope, faith, and confidence.

Relationship between gratitude and life satisfaction

What do you think is the relationship between your gratitude and your degree of satisfaction with life? Do you think that both variables are related in some way? Let’s see it

I propose you to carry out two tests: The Life Satisfaction Test and the Gratitude Test. They are not questionnaires or clinical tests that we use in our Center in consultation, they are a “resource” to motivate you to reflect on these issues.

Meaning of gratitude

If you notice, the five affirmations of the Vital Satisfaction Test have to do with your past and your present. If you value everything you did and had in the past, as well as what you can still do with your life and everything you own (not just the prosaic), you will be practicing gratitude. Feeling grateful or grateful every day, in every gesture, interaction or situation is like drinking a syrup against unpleasant emotions. It is looking at the good cards that life has given you, without comparing yourself to others, thanking the friends you have, what you have learned and are learning, especially after a romantic breakup, an unfair work situation or even a pandemic. It’s savoring every little moment of peace, taking nothing for granted,

If you really feel lucky or fortunate for what you have, what you have achieved and you value it from the heart, you immediately feel a kind of calm, inner peace, which appeases envy, greed, anger, and sadness.

Author(s)