What is Gratitude?
Gratitude is a psychological state in which an individual recognizes the good things that have befallen them, and feels thankful for them. It creates a balance between the things you have, and what you want. Gratitude can be expressed by saying thank you or complimenting someone or something. You will feel more mindful and relaxed when gratitude is present. It has been proven that people who practice gratitude regularly tend to have a higher level of satisfaction with their lives than those who are less grateful, which could be due to the effects of positivity and happiness on other aspects of one's life. Gratitude can also improve relationships by strengthening bonds between friends, family members, mentors, and others important in your life.
How Gratitude Can Benefit Students
Although gratitude is not a tangible skill, it is definitely one of the most important and helpful in terms of mental health. People are always looking for ways to improve their lives. Gratitude will allow students to recognize the value they bring to others' lives, which will make them more grateful than their peers. A student who recognizes the many things she possesses will be more thankful than one who does not.
Spending time outdoors, making an effort to cook nutritious meals, and taking time to thank someone when they offer help (even gratitude is not required) are all examples of how gratitude can benefit a student's life. Gratitude can be beneficial for students from both emotional and cognitive perspectives.
- From an emotional perspective, students who practice gratitude regularly will feel more positive emotions like happiness, peacefulness, and satisfaction. Students who are happier are more likely to be engaged with their schoolwork, not to mention that they will be much nicer to be around. Furthermore, gratitude has a cumulative effect. Over time, students who practice gratitude may become more optimistic and better at managing their stressor emotions like anger.
- From a cognitive perspective, it can help students think rationally by forming mental images of themselves in the future as having achieved success and being happier as a result of the things they have now done or the things they possess now. Students may feel less stressed by knowing that they are in control of their future success, and may be more likely to achieve it.
- Gratitude can also improve relationships. People who are grateful for the things they have feel that other people and their surroundings are more valuable which increases their commitment to relationships. They will be more likely to help out someone in need because of the gratitude they feel towards that person, as opposed to those who do not practice gratitude and therefore do not feel this sense of obligation.
- Gratitude can help a student in the classroom. Gratitude may make students more attentive than students who are less grateful. By staying focused and attentive, students will be better prepared for their exams, which will help them to achieve high grades.
- Gratitude can also improve self-esteem. Gratitude is definitely not about having or leaving friends and family. It simply acknowledges the value of people and other things that are found in your life, even if they do not belong to you yet or may one day stop existing altogether. These things are a blessing because you have them, it is up to you to always appreciate their existence because they will always be there for you whenever you need them!
- Gratitude can improve sleep. Studies have shown that people who practice gratitude before they go to sleep have better sleep quality than those who do not. Moreover, a good night's sleep can help students be more focused and attentive the following day.
- Gratitude reduces feelings of envy and enmity towards others.
People who practice gratitude will acknowledge the value of other people without feeling overly jealous or suspicious of their success, or that they are somehow less successful in comparison (which may or may not be true). Therefore, when students are grateful for their own successes, there is less room in their minds for negative emotions like envy and suspicion which can bring them down throughout the course of a day.
Conclusion
In conclusion, gratitude can benefit students' emotional and cognitive development by making them happier and more optimistic about their future success and relationships. If students build up a certain level of gratitude over time, the benefits will only get better. Therefore, it is extremely important for students to make it part of their daily lives to practice gratitude in order to obtain all its benefits.
