Good morning, friends :). Or good afternoon, good evening, etc. In America (and perhaps elsewhere), today is Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays of the whole year. It has food, fellowship, and kindness. Perhaps the only positive thing it's missing is a musical tradition to match that of Christmas, but what can you do?
As it turns out, the idea of Thanksgiving may also be quite good for your health and happiness. For such is the power of gratitude, and its most potent outward expression--smiling--that perhaps it is in our own best interests to have multiple Thanksgivings each year. It is something at least to consider.
The growing scientific understanding of gratitude's positive effect on people was related a few days ago in an article from the online New York Times, entitled "A Serving of Gratitude May Save the Day." In it, writer John Tierney describes the benefits of feeling genuine gratitude. As it turns out, feeling grateful (but not indebted) markedly improves a person's happiness, self-esteem, and ability to empathize with others. Interestingly, this improved empathy also makes people less likely to retaliate when things don't go their way. As Dr. Michael McCullough is quoted as saying in the article, "'More than other emotions, gratitude is the emotion of friendship...It is part of a psychological system that causes people to raise their estimates of how much value they hold in the eyes of another person. Gratitude is what happens when someone does something that causes you to realize that you matter more to that person than you thought you did.'" For these reasons, Mr. Tierney suggests "a serving of gratitude" may well "save the day."
Yet it is not only a "serving of gratitude" that has a positive effect on people. As a recent TED talk by Ron Gutman describes, there is also a potent, yet "hidden power of smiling." As Mr. Gutman relates, research on the act of smiling shows tremendous benefits for those who frequently partake in the act. Smiling has been shown to influence the length of a person's life, the quality of their well-being, and the ways in which others regard each other. One study suggests that a single smile produces the same stimulation as eating 2,000 pounds of chocolate, or finding 16,000 pound sterling (approx. $25,000) on the ground. Sadly, only about 1/3 of adults smile more than 20 times per day, and 14% smile less than 5.
The good news is that smiling is also evolutionarily-contagious; the more you smile, the more likely others around you will also smile. And since each smile is equivalent to approximately 2,000 pounds of chocolate, or $25,000 cash, there is perhaps no greater gift one can give to someone for which they care.
Perhaps it's for these reasons that Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday in my eyes. For not only is the holiday a time of gratitude and thankfulness, but also one of family, friends, and smiles all around. Leaving aside nutritionally-dubious aspects of the holiday (copious amounts of beer, pumpkin-pie, stuffing, etc.), there appears to be a profoundly wholesome side to this day, one of the first "made-in-America" products we still have and cherish. Something to consider.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends :)
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