Why Is Expressing Gratitude So Essential for Happiness?

 As Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, it is good to remember the reason why we celebrate this day: Gratitude. The Pilgrims were grateful for surviving their first winter in America. They were grateful for the coming of spring. They were grateful for the assistance of the Native Americans in growing crops in the new land.

Every year, Rush Limbaugh would dedicate his last broadcast before the Thanksgiving break to telling the real story of the Pilgrims’ trip to America and their life in the new world. Here is Rush’s retelling of the story on his last Thanksgiving show. 

According to Derrick Morgan at The Heritage Foundation, Americans celebrated Thanksgiving prior to the Revolutionary War, but it did not become an official national celebration until President George Washington sent out his 1789 proclamation. He encouraged all Americans to set aside November 26 to render “sincere and humble thanks” to God “for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country.”

Morgan wrote that subsequent Presidents did not follow Washington’s example, and Thanksgiving was nearly forgotten until President Abraham Lincoln revived the tradition of celebrating gratitude in 1862. He set apart the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day from that time forward.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to change the day for commercial reasons, but Congress stopped him and passed a federal law setting the fourth Thursday in November apart as Thanksgiving Day in 1941.

Thanksgiving is a federal holiday, meaning that children are out of school and many offices and other businesses are closed to enable families to be together. Family unity is worth our gratitude, but Morgan (and other people) report that showing gratitude is good for us in many ways.

… Researchers at the John Templeton Foundation have uncovered that “in general, more grateful people are happier, more satisfied with their lives, less materialistic, and less likely to suffer from burnout.” Other studies show that more grateful heart patients report better sleep, less fatigue and less inflammation.

Grateful people were not only happier and healthier themselves, they also positively influenced others through higher levels of generosity, kindness, and helpfulness. Giving thanks improves relationships and can even make our homes, our workplaces, and perhaps even our country better places to live.

Giving thanks is easier said than done, however, especially in a world where “anger has come to characterize our polarized political environment,” as scholar Patrick Garry has noted. But despite all that there is to be angry about – from crime and inflation to war and wokeness – conservatives especially can’t give up on Thanksgiving.

Gratitude is the heart of conservatism, and in the long run, it may even prove to be the virtue that “helps sand off the edges of anger toward those we disagree with” and unite us [as] a country again, as conservative writer Pete Wehner has suggested.

This Thanksgiving, then, how can you best use your holiday? For starters, you might consider avoiding politics altogether. Politics, which increasingly resembles a contact sport, rarely brings families together and it is hopefully not the most important thing in your life.

But what is? This Thanksgiving, perhaps, consider reflecting on the four basic things that the wisdom of the Scriptures, Aristotle, and modern social science all indicate lead to human happiness: family, friends, work, and religion.

Why not focus conversations on these topics, deeply connecting with friends and family? One tried and true way to do that is to count your blessings, literally. It is nearly impossible to make a list of all the things you are thankful for, but it is a great exercise and you’ll end up feeling much better than you did before. Although you certainly can do this individually, you might also suggest that everyone around the Thanksgiving table voice what they’re grateful for.

Morgan’s article reminded me of a hymn that I have sung since I was a little girl. The title of the hymn is “Count Your Blessings.” The text was written by Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856-1922), and the music was written by Edwin O. Excell (1851-1921). The words are as follows. 

1. When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings; name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

 

2. Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings; ev’ry doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.

 

3. When you look at others with their lands and gold,

Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold.

Count your many blessings; money cannot buy

Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.

 

4. So amid the conflict, whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged; God is over all.

Count your many blessings; angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

 

Chorus

Count your blessings;

Name them one by one.

Count your blessings;

See what God hath done.

Count your blessings;

Name them one by one.

Count your many blessings;

See what God hath done.

 Please join me this Thanksgiving in counting your blessings. I promise you that you will feel better by expressing gratitude than you did before doing so. Happy Thanksgiving! “Count your blessings – name them one by one.” You will be surprised at your many blessings.