When it comes to thankfulness, I am my mother’s child. She taught me to begin every prayer with thanks. I follow her example to write at least three thank you notes every day.

Now scientists are telling us that mom may have been on to something. Dr. Robert Emmons, from UC Davis, and his colleague Michael McCullough have researched the effects of gratitude. They’ve learned some things that you should know.

Being thankful yields benefits. Dr. Emmons found that people who took action to be thankful slept better and longer. They had more energy. And thankful people are more likely to be successful.

The key experiment supporting that last finding involved keeping a gratitude journal. One group of subjects kept such a journal for two months. The control group did nothing special.

Both groups set goals. Emmons found that people in the thankful group were “significantly more likely to achieve personal goals” than people in the the control group.

You don’t have to believe this. You can run your own experiment. Thanksgiving seems like a good time to start.

There are “thankfulness gurus” out there who have elaborate daily rituals you can practice. I suggest simple actions tied to things you do already.

If you meditate, make being thankful part of your meditation. If you keep a journal, make special note of things you’re thankful for. If you’ve got a special time when you plan or review your day, add being thankful to the routine.

The researchers tell us that you’ll get even more benefit if you “express thankfulness.” I translate that as “say thank you.”

Say thank-you in a way that fits your style and habit. You can call people or visit them. You can follow my mother’s habit and write thank-you notes.

Once I asked her what she did if there was no one to thank. She gave me her “mom-look” and said, “Wally, there’s ALWAYS someone to thank.” She was right about that, like so many things. One of things I’m thankful for is the lessons she taught me.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 8:05 am and is filed under Tools and Strategies for Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.