Connection between gratitude and happiness
I would like to talk now about the connection between gratitude and happiness. It’s obvious that it isn’t possible to be happy all the time. We all face problems on a daily basis. These issues that need to be dealt with can cause us to worry and be anxious. Many of us don’t even realise that showing gratitude increases our happiness.
When we show gratitude though, we can put those problems into perspective. We can usually then see the solution rising over the horizon. We are also opening the channel to ask for help.
In Rhonda Byrne’s book Magic she outlines 28 practices that lead to happiness and 12 of those include some form of gratitude. She said ‘Think through every detail of what you want to be, do, or have in your life – in your relationships, career, finances, health, and every area that is important to you. You can be as specific and detailed as you like, but remember your job is simply to list what you want, not how you’re going to get what you want. The “how” will be done for you when gratitude works its magic”.
Jo Howarth from TAP Supporter The Happiness Club said:
Gratitude, thankfulness and appreciation are the absolute bedrock of a happiness practice.
A lot of our time is spent at work and research tells us that 17.9 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, anxiety, or depression 2019-2020. We can really make our lives happier if we make our staffroom, our work environment a happy place.
A happy work environment isn’t just beneficial to the worker, it also has a positive effect on the organisations we work for!
A study carried out by Professor De Neve of Oxford University found that happy workers are 13% more productive.
Recent research into the mood of the UK has found that paid work is ranked near the bottom in terms of activities that make the population happy.
There seems to be considerable room for improvement in the happiness of employees while they are at work”, comments Professor De Neve, “while this clearly is in the interest of workers themselves, our analysis suggests it is also in the interests of their employers.
If we include gratitude in our own daily routine and take every opportunity to be grateful; our whole lives will be happier. If we can encourage gratitude in our workplace we will be more productive and really feel part of a winning team.
Happy workers are healthier and take fewer sick days, they are more motivated, optimistic and less likely to leave, they are more resilient and manage stress better.
Let’s keep on spreading positivity through the power of gratitude and make the whole world a happier place, in our home life, our work life and our social life.
You can listen to TAP’s Radio Show focusing on happiness: https://soundcloud.com/thankandpraise/education-radio-show-february-2022