Gratitude
Being thankful and appreciative
Gratitude as defined by the Oxford Dictionaries is the quality of being thankful and having a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Presented below is a plethora of information on gratitude that gives rise to this definition.
The peer-reviewed articles below include studies that explain correlations between having appreciation and happiness within different populations, individuals, and even religious practices. The articles provide a stepping stone into measuring the trait of gratitude and finding the correlations of gratitude and the benefiting factors it has on us humans.
While you navigate through the books you will find that many begin processing the ideal of having an attitude of gratitude and develop steps to producing more gratitude in our lives.
The selection of websites offers many ways in which we can reflect on what we are grateful for, tips on how to show more gratitude, and how gratitude can benefit our health.
These website links flow right into our media components which include motivational speeches, quotes, songs and techniques that will inspire you in becoming more grateful. The last part of our wiki contains a 30 Day Gratitude Challenge along with personal summaries of individuals who have experienced their own gratitude practices. We hope that you find the information in our wiki to be very valuable and beneficial in your journeys to achieving more appreciation and subjective well-being. (Trent Fogelson)
stilettosontheglassceiling.com
Peer-reviewed Articles:
In four studies done by Watkins et al., gratitude is measured through the Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test (GRAT). The four different studies in this article provide support that gratitude is a trait that can have mental and physical health benefits. (Trent Fogelson)
Watkins, P. C., Woodward, K., Kolts, R. L., & Stone, T. Gratitude And Happiness: Development Of A Measure Of Gratitude, And Relationships With Subjective Well-Being.Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 431-451.
Gratitude and Well-being in Adolescence.pdf
In this study, gratitude is tested on many different dimensions to examine its effects on optimism, life satisfaction, and social support during early adolescence. Gender differences are examined to identify correlates between gratitude and family support. (Trent Fogelson)
Kashdan, T. B. Gratitude And Subjective Well-being In Early Adolescence: Examining Gender Differences. Journal of Adolescence, 633-650.
Spiritual and Religious Correlates of Gratitude.pdf
In this article, Emmons and Kneezel research the comparisons of gratitude in religious and non-religious practices. The Judeo-Christian faith is the main religion discussed in this article and explains the importance of gratitude within this religious practice. (Trent Fogelson)
Emmons, R. A., & Kneezel, T. T. Giving Thanks: Spiritual and Religious Correlates of Gratitude. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 24, 140-148. Retrieved August 4, 2014
Books:
The above material is in introduction to Robert A. Emmons book The Psychology of Gratitude. In this book Emmons talks about gratitude as it is known in history, philosophy, and in various religious practices. (Trent Fogelson)
Emmons, R. A. (2004). The Psychology of Gratitude. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 19-167.
This book by Robert A. Emmons and is a great book because it helps you develop an attitude of gratitude. (Matt Heisig)
This is a very cool book by Anne O. Kubitsky. She has people from all over the world send in what they are grateful for and a picture or something to go along with it. It is very cool to see these from all around the world. (Matt Heisig)
This book is very cool because it talks about how developing an attitude of gratitude will make you feel happier in general. (Matt Heisig)
http://site.ebrary.com.libproxy.nau.edu/lib/nau/docDetail.action?docID=10589458
In this book, author and teacher Kerry Howells writes about gratitude within the education system and speaks to her students about showing appreciation and giving thanks. (Trent Fogelson)
Howells, K. (2012). Gratitude in Education: A Radical View. Rotterdam: SensePublishers.
In this novel Gratitude, Joseph Kertes recreates a true story about the giving hand of a wealthy family who alters the fate of the Jews during World War II. (Trent Fogelson)
Kertes, J. (2009). Gratitude. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.
Websites:
This is a post from the Chicago Tribune that talks about how we need to spend more time realizing the things we are grateful for. (Matt Heisig)
http://zenhabits.net/why-living-a-life-of-gratitude-can-make-you-happy/
The title of this page says it all, "Why Living a Life of Gratitude Can Make You Happy". (Matt Heisig)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stacey-james/gratitude_3_b_5495056.html
This is an article from the Huffington Post that is generally about not overlooking things that we can be grateful for. Even the small things make a difference. (Matt Heisig)
http://www.virtuesforlife.com/what-can-gratitude-give-you/
The Virtues of Life website gives a few helpful tips on how to show gratitude and also provides weekly inspirational quotes. (Trent Fogelson)
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/jack_kornfield_on_gratitude_and_mindfulness
The Greater Good website created by the University of California, Berkeley has many links to the practices we are studying in this course. This particular article includes an interview between Carolyn Gregoire and a Buddist teacher named Jack Kornfield. Kornfield speaks on his experiences with gratitude and mindfulness. (Trent Fogelson)
The above link is an article from Forbes that talks about the benefits gratitude can have on our decision making. (Trent Fogelson)
Media:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDMoiEkyuQ (9:55)
This is a TED Talk on Gratitude by Louie Schwartzberg and the importance of realizing how grateful we really are. (Matt Heisig)
http://smartliving365.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Gratitude-1a.jpg
Above is a picture with a quote that will make you think about your day and everything you are grateful for. (Matt Heisig)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKhMUh_nfhw (1:05)
If this song that spongebob sings doesn't want to make you have an "attitude of gratitude" then I don't know what will. (Matt Heisig)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO2o98Zpzg8
Here is a beautiful song created by Nimo Patel and Daniel Nahmod which captures the gratitude felt by people all over the world. (Trent Fogelson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg
This video tests an approach to showing gratitude with inspiring affects. (Trent Fogelson)
Eric Ravenscraft shares with us a reminder technique that may strengthen our gratitude. (Trent Fogelson)
Original Creation:
30 Day Gratitude Challenge:
*Make a list of 30 things you are grateful for
*Before you start the 30 day challenge, reflect what being grateful for those 30 things means to you.
*For the next 30 days, choose 1 thing on your list each day to improve your gratitude for it.
*If one of your list items is that you are grateful for family, then do something that you would not usually do for them. This could mean writing a letter; making a call to a family member you haven’t talk to in a while, or giving a gift to one of them. If you are grateful for nature and outdoors, make time in your day to go for a hike or smell the flowers. As long as what you in engage in is focusing around that list item that you are grateful for.
*The way in which you experience the most gratitude is up to you. You may use other practices to enhance/improve your gratitude towards your items such as: meditating on those items, journaling about those items, or inspiring others to engage in your list items.
I find that visualizing my day in the morning and focusing on those items I’m grateful for helps me to achieve the activity to improve my gratitude throughout the day.
*At the end of 30 days, reflect upon your list items again and make note of any changes you have noticed about showing your gratitude or if you found anything else during your challenge that you are even more grateful for.
(Trent Fogelson)
Summary Application – Gratitude.docx (diana deaver)