The Gift of Gratitude

Now that I've written a few hubs, I thought I'd write one that is more personal. As of late, you could say I am in just about the greatest mood a person can be in.

HubPages has changed my life. I've always been a writer, even if I haven't been writing seriously since college. I just had not found my muse. I'm the kind of person that when I wake up the next day and still want to do what I was doing the night before, it's the real thing. And when that happens the day after, and again the day after that, and so on, it is indeed life-changing.

I have met a new friend, an open, wonderful, and generous human being. He constantly surprises me and never makes any indication that spending money or doing favors, like putting in my car stereo, is an issue.

My boyfriend from a year ago was self-sacrificing. He would wait until I got off from work until we started our nightly rituals. One of the most important people I've met in my life. I'll never forget him.

A few years back two friends removed all the bus seats from one of the biggest buses GM ever made. The bolts were old and rusted in place, but they both worked throughout the day to get them all removed. Hard work.

I had this same kind of experience traveling. I met people who gave me food, gifts, clothes, money, rides, a place to stay, not to mention, good stories, friendship, and the indelible impression that humanity is good after all, more than good. It was during this period of travel that I became aware of this feeling referred to as gratitude.

Many suggest a gratitude session whereby taking time to meditate or a journal to take note to foster gratitude.

It is apparent to most that people who tend to experience gratitude more frequently than others tend to be happier, more helpful and forgiving, and less depressed. With gratitude, there is is less stress and more hope. In contrast to the positive feeling of gratitude, the feeling of indebtedness is a negative reaction to a favor.

Interestingly, there is no Western therapy centered around gratitude. It's actually not mentioned much in psychological literature in this part of the world. This is not true elsewhere.

Naikan is a therapy developed in Japan that has gratitude at its core. Naikan is a method of self-reflection developed by Yoshimoto Ishin. Its structure uses our relationships with other as the mirror in which we can see ourselves.

One of the participants described it, "Just over four years ago, I participated in a weeklong Naikan retreat in Japan. There, I had a unique opportunity to review my entire life with a new perspective. "What have others given me? What have I given others? What troubles have I caused others? With these three simple questions, for about 15 hours a day... Entitlements became gifts and rights became privileges. It was very humbling. I emerged with a compelling desire to give something back."

One of the few Westerners to acknowledge gratitude, Dr. Robert Emmons, began studying gratitude during a seminar in which several different emotions were assigned to group participants in order for them to create a one-hour presentation. He was assigned gratitude, and since then has authored two books and more than 60 research articles. He states, "There’s a whole cluster of related characteristics that seem to go together — things like optimism, hope, gratitude, and happiness" (article link below).

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics utilizing the laws of both heaven (astronomy) and earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive energy. Its practices will teach you that one of the paths to a happy home is to develop the energy of gratitude. This energy carries a gentle sense of beauty with it through family photos, healthy plants, harmonious colors, comfortable spaces, and clean air. Your body will know it right away, as it thrives on the energy of gratefulness and appreciation for the gift and the sacredness of human life.

Light a Candle is a website with a focus on gratitude and the higher purpose of sacred action. Light a candle in cyberspace to honor, memorialize, celebrate, or otherwise focus energy onto someone or something you care about.

In Taoism, bowing is understood as a way of practicing gratitude.

The existential principle of PAGL refers to Peace, Assurance, Gratitude and Love. It was developed by psychiatrist Thomas Hora, M.D., as a term to indicate a state of consciousness which is the aim of the healing system of Metapsychiatry.

In mythology, Nehalennia was a local goddess who was venerated in the area around Domburg (Walcheren, Netherlands) in the second and third century CE. She was regarded as a protector of travelers or seafarers; several inscriptions on votive stones and altars show gratitude for a safe passage across the North Sea. On these votive stones (more than 160 have been found), she is depicted as a young woman seated on a throne in an apse (the vaulted recess in a sanctuary or church) flanked by two columns, usually with a dog at her side. In her lap she holds a basket with apples or with loaves of bread. She also appears standing with her foot on the bow of a ship.

In the US, we are most familiar with the band, The Grateful Dead.

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Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others — Cicero

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world — Prayer by John Milton

It is said, you are now in possession of gratitude as the master key that opens all doors of possibility — Unknown

Albert Schweitzer considers it a mysterious law of existence. In obedience to it we have to fulfill our destiny.

Aristotle argues that gratitude is a training in philosophy. Wild Gratitude is a book of philosophical poetry by Edward Hirsch.  Gratitude is a philosophy book by Terrance McConnell.

Valentine's Day is coming soon. Pink or peach roses symbolize gratitude.

Dansk (Danish) n. - taknemlighed

Nederlands (Dutch) dankbaarheid

Français (French) n. - gratitude, reconnaissance

Deutsch (German) n. - Dankbarkeit, Dank

Ελληνική (Greek) n. - ευγνωμοσύνη

Italiano (Italian) gratitudine

Português (Portuguese) n. - gratidão (f), agradecimento (m)

Русский (Russian) признательность

Español (Spanish) n. - gratitud, agradecimiento

Svenska (Swedish) n. - tacksamhet

中文（简体） (Chinese — Simplified) 感谢的心情

中文（繁體） (Chinese — Traditional) n. - 感謝的心情

한국어 (Korean) n. - 감사

日本語 (Japanese) n. - 感謝, 謝意

العربيه (Arabic)

‏(الاسم) شكر, امتنان‏

עברית (Hebrew)

n. - ‮תודה, הכרת טובה‬

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