thankful for essay

Gratitude Essay

500 words essay on gratitude.

Gratitude is a beautiful way of enriching our lives. It refers to the feeling and attitude of appreciation and thankfulness for the good which we receive in life. It has been proven scientifically that when we express our gratefulness to other people, we feel happier and calmer. Thus, it allows goodness to enter our lives. For instance, when a stranger holds the door for you or greets you, it makes you feel happy. Thus, a gratitude essay will teach us how advantageous gratitude is.

Advantages of Gratitude

Gratitude can have a lot of advantages to our personal as well as social life. First of all, it strengthens our relationship with others. When you have a thankful feeling, it will strengthen the bond with the other party and enhance the trust factor and feeling of respect and love .

Moreover, it also makes us happy. When we express gratitude or receive it, we feel happy either way. As a result, people who have gratitude do not stress out a lot. Similarly, being full of gratitude makes society sensible.

In other words, people become considerate and never leave a chance to say thank you to others. Thus, it helps society to progress in the right direction with the right tools needed for the development of it.

Most importantly, gratitude reduces comparisons and promotes acknowledgement. When we become thankful, we do not compare ourselves to others. Thus, it helps us acknowledge our own achievements and blessings and remain content.

How to Practice Gratitude

There are a lot of ways through which we can practice gratitude. Some of the most effective ones include making a note of every good thing which happens to us every day. Moreover, also note the people behind it.

This will help you to return the favour at an appropriate time. Never forget to return this favour as they deserve it too. Moreover, always make sure to appreciate everything in life ranging from nature to animals .

We are lucky enough to have animals, green plants, fresh air and much more. Thus, never stop acknowledging the importance of these essential things. Moreover, always remember to say thank you to different community helpers.

It can be anyone, whether your gardener or sweeper or even the police officers. Make sure you thank them for their service whenever it is possible for you. Remember that to wake up every day is no less than a blessing itself.

So, make sure to be grateful for a new day and thank the almighty for making you wiser and stronger with each passing day. Most importantly, try to avoid complaining about things when they don’t go your way. You don’t know about the blessing behind it.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Gratitude Essay

All in all, gratitude is the most essential human expression which proves that humans are sensible and have emotions. Moreover, this emotion does not just limit to humans but also animals. Often, we see then express their gratitude and return the favour. Thus, we must always express our gratitude.

FAQ of Gratitude Essay

Question 1: Why is gratitude important?

Answer 1: Gratitude is strongly and constantly connected with greater happiness. It is what helps people feel more positive emotions, appreciate good experiences, advance their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

Question 2: How can gratitude change your life?

Answer 2: Gratitude can change your life as it makes you appreciate what you have rather than what you don’t have. It can change your life because it is the single most powerful source of inspiration that any individual can tap into if they simply stop and pay attention to the simplistic beauty and miracle of life.

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Common Application Essay Option 4—Gratitude

Tips and Strategies for the 2021-22 Common App

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One major change to the Common Application in the 2021-22 admissions cycle is the addition of a new essay prompt. Option #4 now reads, "Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?"

This new prompt replaces the earlier question about solving a problem : "Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma--anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution." Keep in mind that colleges and universities still want to learn about students interested in solving significant problems, and you still have the "Topic of Your Choice" option if you feel your essay would fit well under the former option #4.

According to Common App , the new prompt serves a couple purposes. First, it replaces a prompt that wasn't very popular among college applicants. More importantly, it gives applicants the opportunity to write about something positive at a difficult time in world history. Rather than write about significant problems, challenges, and anxieties, the new prompt #4 invites you to share something heartfelt and uplifting.

The Importance of Gratitude and Kindness

During the college application process, it's easy and tempting to focus entirely on your personal accomplishments: good grades, challenging AP courses, leadership experiences, athletic ability, musical talent, and so on. Even community service can sometimes come across as focused on your self—hours spent to bolster your application credentials.

Gratitude, however, is a largely selfless feeling. It's about your appreciation for someone else. It's recognizing that your growth and success wouldn't be possible without others. When you express gratitude, you aren't saying "look at me!" Rather, you are appreciating those who have helped you become you.

The folks at Common App have expressed that the new prompt allows students to write about something positive. This is true, but the prompt serves a bigger purpose in the admissions selection process. Highly selective schools end up rejecting thousands of well-qualified applicants, and those decisions will often come down to questions of character rather than GPA and SAT scores.

Think of it this way: when a college is choosing between two students who are academically strong and impressive on the extracurricular front, they will choose the student who seems to be the most kind and generous. Admissions officers are building a campus community with their admissions decisions, and they want to create a community filled with students who appreciate others, build each other up, and recognize the contributions of peers, staff, and professors. They want to admit students who will be kind roommates, collaborative lab partners, and supportive team members.

Chris Peterson, an assistant director of admissions at MIT, wrote a blog post in which he identified three essential qualities for getting into one of the world's most selective schools: do well in school, pursue your passion, and be nice. He notes that this last quality "cannot be overstated." MIT is not a Common Application member, but the point applies perfectly to the value of prompt #4. A winning essay doesn't say "me, me, me!" It shows that you are not only an accomplished person, but also someone who knows how to say "thank you."

Breaking Down the Essay Prompt

Before crafting your essay on prompt #4, it's essential to understand everything that the prompt is asking you to do as well as what it is not asking. The prompt is just 28 words long:

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

The prompt has several important elements to consider.

"Reflect"

The very first word in the prompt is one of the most significant. "Reflect" means much more than "write about" or "describe." When you reflect on something, you look inward and reveal self-awareness. You employ critical thinking skills to explain why something is important. Reflection is an act of self-discovery as you examine what you have learned and why it was meaningful.

Here's a quick example:

Unreflective writing: Coach Strauss always taught the team the value of hard work. We practiced hours every day regardless of the weather. The coach's strategy paid off when we won the state championship. The effort we put in wasn't always enjoyable, but the team's success showed that the path to success requires sacrifices.

Reflective writing: I used to resent those miserable and seemingly endless soccer practices in the rain or even snow. Looking back, I now recognize the value of what Coach Strauss was teaching the team. To succeed, we need to work through small obstacles. We need to persevere even when motivation is hard to find. We need to recognize that we always have room for improvement, and we need to support each other as we work towards that goal. I can now see that her lessons were about much more than soccer, and thanks to her I am not just a better athlete, but a better student, peer, sister, and community member.

The first example describes the writer's soccer experience. Nothing in the passage looks inward to analyze the importance of Coach Strauss to the writer's personal awareness and development. The second passage succeeds on this front—it expresses gratitude for Coach Strauss and the way that her lessons helped the writer grow.

"Something" and "Someone"

A nice feature of the Common Application is that all of the essay prompts are designed to give you a lot of latitude in how you respond. The words "something" and "someone" in the new prompt #4 are deliberately vague. You can write about anyone and anything. Possible choices for the person you focus on include

A teacher who helped you realize your potential or see the world in a new way.
A coach who taught you valuable skills.
A family member whose support, love, or guidance helped you become the person you are today.
A peer who was always there for you in challenging times.
A student you mentored or tutored who ended up teaching you something valuable in the process.
A member of your church or community who had a meaningful and positive impact on your life.

The wording of the prompt implies that the "someone" is a living person, so you'll want to avoid writing about an author, God, a pet, or a historical figure (but feel free to use prompt #7 for these topics).

As you think about the "something" that the person did for you, make sure it is meaningful. It needs to be something that has changed you in a positive way.

"Surprising"

When the prompt states that you should write about something that has made you "happy or thankful in a surprising way," don't get too hung up on that word "surprising." This doesn't mean that you need to be shocked or overwhelmed by whatever it is that a person did for you. Don't think of the term "surprising" as something that made you speechless and caused an adrenalin rush. It does not need to be something earth-shattering or even unusual. Rather, the "surprise" can simply be something that expanded your world view, made you think about something you hadn't considered before, or caused you to appreciate something new. Some of the best essays focus on something small or subtle that changed you in a meaningful way.

"Gratitude"

The essay's focus on "gratitude" and thankfulness means that you absolutely must show appreciation for someone other than yourself. One main purpose of this essay, in fact, is to show that you recognize the contributions that others have made to your personal journey. Be generous. Be kind. Show that you value the people who have made you into the person you are.

"Affected" and "Motivated"

Here's the tricky part. Essay #4 is all about recognizing someone else and showing gratitude for the way in which that person has enriched your life. That said, every college application essay needs to be about you. The admissions folks aren't really interested in learning about someone else. They are interested in learning about the student they are considering for admission.

This means you have a careful balancing act to perform with essay option #4. You need to write about the person who contributed to your life in a meaningful and surprising way, but you also need to be introspective and present why that person was so important to you. What did you learn from the person? How did you grow? How did that person change your world view, strengthen your convictions, help you overcome an obstacle, or give you a new sense of direction?

When you answer questions like these, you are writing about yourself. The true goal of this essay is to show that you are a grateful, kind, thoughtful, introspective, and generous person. The focus isn't so much on the person you are writing about, but your ability to cherish that person.

Avoid These Mistakes

You can write about anyone who was important to you, and your gratitude can be for something large or small as long as it affected you in a meaningful way. There are, however, several mistakes you want to avoid when responding to the prompt:

Don't display ego . Prompt #4 is about acknowledging the important contributions others have made to your life, so a boastful or egotistical tone will be entirely out of place. If at its heart your essay says "Coach Strauss helped make me into the award-winning national champion I am today," you've missed the mark.

Do more than describe . Make sure you "reflect" and explore how the person "affected" and "motivated" you. A winning essay needs to be thoughtful and introspective. If you spend the entire essay describing the person who has made you grateful, the admissions folks won't get to know you better and your essay won't have done its job.

Don't be clever with the "someone." Write about a real living human being who has enriched your life in a direct way. Don't write about yourself, God, Abe Lincoln, or Harry Potter. You also don't want to write about a sports idol or musician—while they may have influenced you, they didn't actually do something specifically "for you."

Attend to the Writing

Never forget that your Common Application serves not just to help the admissions folks get to know you, but also to show that you are a capable writer. No matter what your major is, a significant part of your college GPA is going to stem from writing. Successful college students can write clear, engaging, error-free prose. You'll want to pay careful attention to your essay's style , tone, and mechanics. At a highly selective university with more qualified applicants than can be admitted, the difference between an acceptance and rejection can come down to some glaring grammatical errors in the essay.

If you aren't confident in your writing ability, seek help. Have multiple people read your essay. Get feedback from parents and peers, Even more valuable will probably be feedback from your high school counselor and English teacher, for they have more experience with personal essays.

A Final Note for Common Application Option #4

This essay prompt can be approached is so many different ways, but at its heart, the essay needs to accomplish one thing: it needs to show that you are the type of person the college wants to join their campus community. Make sure you come across as someone who is kind, generous, and thoughtful. Show that you care about good writing by crafting an engaging essay that is free of any significant errors. Finally, don't be afraid to let your personality shine. Don't hold back (within reason) if you are a quirky or humorous person. The essay needs to sound like you.

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15 Fabulous Gratitude Writing Prompts

by Suzanne Davis | Jan 16, 2019 | Writing Prompts

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings…

turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings” –William Arthur Ward.

Gratitude lets you see wonders in life— even when you think life is horrible . On days when you think “what else can wrong?” writing about what you’re thankful for helps you heal. And when life is wonderful a gratitude journal reminds you who helped you, supported you, and encouraged you.

I want to express my thoughts of thankfulness on paper. Writing makes things more permanent than speaking them. Yet, I can’t always come up with what I am thankful for each day. I rely on gratitude writing prompts to inspire me. Here are 15 excellent journal topics to help you write what you are thankful for.

So, grab a notebook or journal, and select one to get you started!

#1 Describe your favorite moment of the day.

What was it and why is it your favorite moment? When we focus on small moments, we recognize the importance of each day. Think about the day you are having now. What was special to you?

#2 Describe your favorite person and list all of that person’s good qualities.

Write about one or more of those qualities. You can write one journal entry for each quality you like about that person. This writing prompt pushes you to not take people for granted. It helps you appreciate those around you even more.

#3 Write about a random act of kindness from another person.

These could be acts of kindness from a friend, family member, or even a stranger. Don’t just consider grand actions, but these might be small things too, such as a person letting you go ahead of them in a waiting line . Bonus points: Don’t just write about it, but do an act of kindness.

#4 Write about something that cheers you up when you feel down.

Is there a person, animal, thing or something you do that cheers you up on a bad day? Describe it in your journal, and write about why or how it makes you feel better.

#5 List 5 things you are grateful for today.

It doesn’t matter if these are small things. List them. I learned about this idea from an old episode of Oprah and used it to help me at the lowest part of my life. This prompt made me recognize all that is positive. Of course, my pets Cuddles and Dylan were always on that list, but I found a lot of other things to add too. Bonus points: Write 6 or more things you are grateful for today.

#6 Remember a success you had and write a thank-you speech describing who helped you reach it.

Imagine you received an award, who would you say helped you reach that goal ? How did it come about, and what contributed to your success? Bonus points: After writing your speech, share it with the people who helped you succeed.

#7 Write about a favorite hobby.

Why do you love it? How does it make you feel? Describe your hobby and what makes it wonderful and how it is possible that you can do it. Bonus points: Go and enjoy your hobby.

#8 Write about something you are grateful for with your work or personal life.

I like this prompt because it helps you realize something that is good about work even if you don’t like your job. Or, it helps you see something you can be thankful for in your personal life even if you feel like you are struggling.

#9 Write about something you accomplished today, and how you feel now .

Do you have a lot of things on your to-do list? Well, how do feel when you cross those items off? Write about that and be thankful for anyone or anything that helped you finish what you wanted to do.

#10 Write about something someone else did to make you happy.

It doesn’t have to be a huge thing someone else did. It can be something small. You begin to see the impact of little things. For example, it might be that someone else lent you a pencil for class. It seems a tiny favor, but think of its effect. What if you didn’t have anything to write with it? How would you take notes in class?

#11 Write about something you did to make someone happy today.

This prompt asks you to see what good you do (and if you can’t come up with something you need to work on caring for others). Describe how what you did made another person feel, laugh or smile. Be thankful that you could reach out and make someone else feel joy for a moment, a day, a week, or longer.

#12 Write about a pet and what makes him/her special.

This may seem strange, and if you don’t have a pet forget this prompt. However, animals keep us company, comfort us, and adore us no matter what. They don’t judge you by grades, work, income, style, or appearance. Pets love us unconditionally. They also have distinct personalities and traits. What makes your pet special? How does your pet make you feel?

#13 One of the best experiences of my life was… I am grateful for that experience because…

What is something wonderful that happened to you and why do you feel that way about it? I discovered this writing prompt in a blog post called, “Writing Prompts for Giving Thanks” on the website Writing Forward https://www.writingforward.com/writing-prompts/journal-prompts/gratitude-journal-prompts .

#14 List at least 10 things you like about yourself. Write a journal entry for each of those things.

Describe 10 things you love about you, and how you are grateful for each of those things. For instance, if you like that you’re confident, be thankful that you have that gift. Also, who or what helped you become confident? Another great aspect of this prompt is that you have ten days of ideas for your journal.

#15 Write about something good you saw in your community.

Look at what is happening in your local area. Are there volunteers who help out in a city, town, school, or college? Is there a new program that helps people? Are people doing something that makes a difference? Write about it and the impact it has on you. Does it make you feel grateful or inspire you? Bonus points: Volunteer.

Keep a Gratitude Journal

Why do I keep a gratitude journal? It calms me when I’m frazzled, stressed, and confused. It can do the same for you too. Write and reflect on all the things you are thankful for each day and you’ll experience more peace in life. Create space and time to keep a journal and try one of these gratitude writing prompts.

Comment below with what you are grateful for this year.

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Gratitude Essay Examples

What makes a good gratitude essay topics.

When it comes to writing an essay about gratitude, choosing the right topic is crucial. A good gratitude essay topic should be thought-provoking, engaging, and unique. It should inspire the writer to delve into their personal experiences and perspective on gratitude, while also sparking interest in the reader. Here are some recommendations on how to brainstorm and choose a gratitude essay topic:

Consider your personal experiences: Think about moments in your life where you felt grateful or experienced gratitude. Reflect on these experiences and consider how they could be turned into a compelling essay topic.
Think about what interests you: Consider topics related to gratitude that genuinely interest you. This could be anything from the impact of gratitude on mental health to the role of gratitude in different cultures.
Consider the audience: When choosing a gratitude essay topic, it's important to consider the audience's interests and what will resonate with them. Think about what topics might be relevant and meaningful to a wide audience.

A good gratitude essay topic is one that is unique, thought-provoking, and allows for personal reflection. It should inspire the writer to explore their perspective on gratitude and engage the reader in a meaningful way.

Best Gratitude Essay Topics

When it comes to writing about gratitude, there are countless unique and creative essay topics to explore. Here are some of the best gratitude essay topics to consider:

The Power of Gratitude: How expressing gratitude can transform your mindset
Gratitude in the Face of Adversity: How to find gratitude in difficult times
Cultivating a Grateful Heart: Practices for fostering gratitude in daily life
The Role of Gratitude in Mental Health: How gratitude can impact mental well-being
Gratitude and Relationships: The importance of expressing gratitude in personal and professional relationships
Gratitude Across Cultures: Exploring different cultural perspectives on gratitude
Gratitude and Resilience: How gratitude can foster resilience in challenging times
The Science of Gratitude: Research on the psychological and physiological effects of gratitude
Gratitude and Generosity: How gratitude can inspire acts of kindness and generosity
The Art of Thankfulness: Exploring the role of gratitude in art and creativity
Gratitude and Mindfulness: How gratitude practices intersect with mindfulness and meditation
Gratitude in Literature: Examining how gratitude is portrayed in literary works
Gratitude in the Workplace: The impact of expressing gratitude in professional settings
Gratitude and Social Justice: How gratitude intersects with issues of equity and justice
Gratitude and Health: The link between gratitude and physical well-being
Gratitude and Nature: Exploring the connection between gratitude and the natural world
Gratitude and Forgiveness: How gratitude can facilitate the process of forgiveness
Cultivating Gratitude in Children: The importance of teaching gratitude from a young age
Gratitude and Aging: The role of gratitude in healthy aging and well-being
Gratitude and Faith: Exploring the relationship between gratitude and spirituality

Gratitude essay topics Prompts

If you're looking for inspiration to kickstart your gratitude essay, here are five creative prompts to get you started:

"Think about a time when you felt immense gratitude. What were the circumstances, and how did it impact you?"
"Explore the concept of gratitude in a cultural context that is different from your own. How do different cultures express and cultivate gratitude?"
"Consider the role of gratitude in your daily life. How does it shape your perspective and interactions with others?"
"Reflect on a challenging experience in your life and explore how gratitude played a role in helping you navigate through it."
"Imagine a world where gratitude was at the forefront of all interactions. How might society be different?"

These prompts are designed to spark creativity and personal reflection, encouraging writers to delve into their own experiences and perspectives on gratitude in a meaningful way.

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How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times

A decade’s worth of research on gratitude has shown me that when life is going well, gratitude allows us to celebrate and magnify the goodness. But what about when life goes badly? In the midst of the economic maelstrom that has gripped our country, I have often been asked if people can—or even should—feel grateful under such dire circumstances.

This essay is adapted from Gratitude Works!: A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity .

My response is that not only will a grateful attitude help—it is essential . In fact, it is precisely under crisis conditions when we have the most to gain by a grateful perspective on life. In the face of demoralization, gratitude has the power to energize. In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope. In other words, gratitude can help us cope with hard times.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that gratitude will come easily or naturally in a crisis. It’s easy to feel grateful for the good things. No one “feels” grateful that they have lost a job or a home or good health or has taken a devastating hit on their retirement portfolio.

But it is vital to make a distinction between feeling grateful and being grateful. We don’t have total control over our emotions. We cannot easily will ourselves to feel grateful, less depressed, or happy. Feelings follow from the way we look at the world, thoughts we have about the way things are, the way things should be, and the distance between these two points.

But being grateful is a choice, a prevailing attitude that endures and is relatively immune to the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives. When disaster strikes, gratitude provides a perspective from which we can view life in its entirety and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances. Yes, this perspective is hard to achieve—but my research says it is worth the effort.

Remember the bad

Trials and suffering can actually refine and deepen gratefulness if we allow them to show us not to take things for granted. Our national holiday of gratitude, Thanksgiving, was born and grew out of hard times. The first Thanksgiving took place after nearly half the pilgrims died from a rough winter and year. It became a national holiday in 1863 in the middle of the Civil War and was moved to its current date in the 1930s following the Depression.

Why? Well, when times are good, people take prosperity for granted and begin to believe that they are invulnerable. In times of uncertainty, though, people realize how powerless they are to control their own destiny. If you begin to see that everything you have, everything you have counted on, may be taken away, it becomes much harder to take it for granted.

The Gratitude Project

What if we didn't take good things for granted? Learn how gratitude can lead to a better life—and a better world—in this new GGSC book.

So crisis can make us more grateful—but research says gratitude also helps us cope with crisis. Consciously cultivating an attitude of gratitude builds up a sort of psychological immune system that can cushion us when we fall. There is scientific evidence that grateful people are more resilient to stress, whether minor everyday hassles or major personal upheavals. The contrast between suffering and redemption serves as the basis for one of my tips for practicing gratitude: remember the bad.

It works this way: Think of the worst times in your life, your sorrows, your losses, your sadness—and then remember that here you are, able to remember them, that you made it through the worst times of your life, you got through the trauma, you got through the trial, you endured the temptation, you survived the bad relationship, you’re making your way out of the dark. Remember the bad things, then look to see where you are now.

This process of remembering how difficult life used to be and how far we have come sets up an explicit contrast that is fertile ground for gratefulness. Our minds think in terms of counterfactuals—mental comparisons we make between the way things are and how things might have been different. Contrasting the present with negative times in the past can make us feel happier (or at least less unhappy) and enhance our overall sense of well-being. This opens the door to coping gratefully.

Try this little exercise. First, think about one of the unhappiest events you have experienced. How often do you find yourself thinking about this event today? Does the contrast with the present make you feel grateful and pleased? Do you realize your current life situation is not as bad as it could be? Try to realize and appreciate just how much better your life is now. The point is not to ignore or forget the past but to develop a fruitful frame of reference in the present from which to view experiences and events.

There’s another way to foster gratitude: confront your own mortality. In a recent study, researchers asked participants to imagine a scenario where they are trapped in a burning high rise, overcome by smoke, and killed. This resulted in a substantial increase in gratitude levels, as researchers discovered when they compared this group to two control conditions who were not compelled to imagine their own deaths.

In these ways, remembering the bad can help us to appreciate the good. As the German theologian and Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy.” We know that gratitude enhances happiness, but why? Gratitude maximizes happiness in multiple ways, and one reason is that it helps us reframe memories of unpleasant events in a way that decreases their unpleasant emotional impact. This implies that grateful coping entails looking for positive consequences of negative events. For example, grateful coping might involve seeing how a stressful event has shaped who we are today and has prompted us to reevaluate what is really important in life.

Reframing disaster

To say that gratitude is a helpful strategy to handle hurt feelings does not mean that we should try to ignore or deny suffering and pain.

The GGSC's coverage of gratitude is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation as part of our Expanding Gratitude project.

The field of positive psychology has at times been criticized for failing to acknowledge the value of negative emotions. Barbara Held of Bowdoin College in Maine, for example, contends that positive psychology has been too negative about negativity and too positive about positivity. To deny that life has its share of disappointments, frustrations, losses, hurts, setbacks, and sadness would be unrealistic and untenable. Life is suffering. No amount of positive thinking exercises will change this truth.

So telling people simply to buck up, count their blessings, and remember how much they still have to be grateful for can certainly do much harm. Processing a life experience through a grateful lens does not mean denying negativity. It is not a form of superficial happiology. Instead, it means realizing the power you have to transform an obstacle into an opportunity. It means reframing a loss into a potential gain, recasting negativity into positive channels for gratitude.

A growing body of research has examined how grateful recasting works. In a study conducted at Eastern Washington University, participants were randomly assigned to one of three writing groups that would recall and report on an unpleasant open memory—a loss, a betrayal, victimization, or some other personally upsetting experience. The first group wrote for 20 minutes on issues that were irrelevant to their open memory. The second wrote about their experience pertaining to their open memory.

Researchers asked the third group to focus on the positive aspects of a difficult experience—and discover what about it might now make them feel grateful. Results showed that they demonstrated more closure and less unpleasant emotional impact than participants who just wrote about the experience without being prompted to see ways it might be redeemed with gratitude. Participants were never told not to think about the negative aspects of the experience or to deny or ignore the pain. Moreover, participants who found reasons to be grateful demonstrated fewer intrusive memories, such as wondering why it happened, whether it could have been prevented, or if they believed they caused it to happen. Thinking gratefully, this study showed, can help heal troubling memories and in a sense redeem them—a result echoed in many other studies.

Some years ago, I asked people with debilitating physical illnesses to compose a narrative concerning a time when they felt a deep sense of gratitude to someone or for something. I asked them to let themselves re-create that experience in their minds so that they could feel the emotions as if they had transported themselves back in time to the event itself. I also had them reflect on what they felt in that situation and how they expressed those feelings. In the face of progressive diseases, people often find life extremely challenging, painful, and frustrating. I wondered whether it would even be possible for them to find anything to be grateful about. For many of them, life revolved around visits to the pain clinic and pharmacy. I would not have been at all surprised if resentment overshadowed gratefulness.

More on Gratitude

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As it turned out, most respondents had trouble settling on a specific instance—they simply had so much in their lives that they were grateful for. I was struck by the profound depth of feeling that they conveyed in their essays, and by the apparent life-transforming power of gratitude in many of their lives.

It was evident from reading these narrative accounts that (1) gratitude can be an overwhelmingly intense feeling, (2) gratitude for gifts that others easily overlook most can be the most powerful and frequent form of thankfulness, and (3) gratitude can be chosen in spite of one’s situation or circumstances. I was also struck by the redemptive twist that occurred in nearly half of these narratives: out of something bad (suffering, adversity, affliction) came something good (new life or new opportunities) for which the person felt profoundly grateful.

If you are troubled by an open memory or a past unpleasant experience, you might consider trying to reframe how you think about it using the language of thankfulness. The unpleasant experiences in our lives don’t have to be of the traumatic variety in order for us to gratefully benefit from them. Whether it is a large or small event, here are some additional questions to ask yourself:

What lessons did the experience teach me?
Can I find ways to be thankful for what happened to me now even though I was not at the time it happened?
What ability did the experience draw out of me that surprised me?
How am I now more the person I want to be because of it? Have my negative feelings about the experience limited or prevented my ability to feel gratitude in the time since it occurred?
Has the experience removed a personal obstacle that previously prevented me from feeling grateful?

Remember, your goal is not to relive the experience but rather to get a new perspective on it. Simply rehearsing an upsetting event makes us feel worse about it. That is why catharsis has rarely been effective. Emotional venting without accompanying insight does not produce change. No amount of writing about the event will help unless you are able to take a fresh, redemptive perspective on it. This is an advantage that grateful people have—and it is a skill that anyone can learn.

About the Author

Robert Emmons

University of california, davis.

Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. , is the world's leading scientific expert on gratitude. He is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and the founding editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology . He is the author of the books Gratitude Works!: A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity and Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier .

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Pay it Forward

Essay on Things I Am Grateful

Students are often asked to write an essay on Things I Am Grateful in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Things I Am Grateful

I am grateful for my family. They love and care for me. They are always there to support me in good and bad times. They teach me important things about life. I am thankful for the happy moments we share together.

Good health is a blessing. I am grateful for being healthy. It allows me to do all sorts of things like playing, studying, and helping others. It also saves me from pain and suffering.

I am grateful for the chance to learn. Education opens doors to a brighter future. It helps me understand the world better. It also equips me with skills for life.

I am thankful for my friends. They make my life fun and exciting. They support me when I am down. They are like a second family.

250 Words Essay on Things I Am Grateful

Family love.

The first thing I am grateful for is my family. They are like a big tree that gives me shade on a sunny day. My parents, siblings, and grandparents always support me. They love me a lot and I love them too. Their love is like a warm blanket on a cold night.

Good Health

Another thing I am thankful for is my good health. It lets me run, play, and have fun. It helps me to learn new things at school. Good health is like a strong boat that keeps me safe in the sea of life.

I am also grateful for my education. It is like a key that opens the door to a bright future. My teachers help me to learn new things every day. They guide me like a lighthouse guides a ship in the dark.

I am thankful for my friends. They make my life fun and exciting. We share our joys and sorrows. They are like stars that light up my world.

The last thing I am grateful for is nature. It gives me fresh air, clean water, and beautiful scenery. It is like a big playground where I can enjoy and learn.

500 Words Essay on Things I Am Grateful

Introduction.

Gratitude is a strong feeling of being thankful to someone or something for the good things they have given you. It’s like a magic key that opens up a world of positivity and happiness. Today, I want to share some of the things I am grateful for in my life.

First, I am grateful for my family. They are my support system, always there to help me when I need it. My parents, who work hard to provide for me, teach me important life lessons and guide me through tough times. My siblings, even though we sometimes fight, are my best friends. They make me laugh, share my joys and sorrows, and teach me the importance of sharing and caring.

I am also grateful for the opportunity to go to school and learn. Education is a powerful tool that helps me understand the world around me. It gives me the skills to solve problems, make decisions, and become a better person. I am thankful for my teachers who guide me, my classmates who help me learn, and the books that open my mind to new ideas.

I am thankful for the beautiful world around me. The bright sun that gives me warmth, the cool breeze that refreshes me, the green trees that give me shade, and the colorful flowers that make me smile. I am grateful for the birds that sing, the rivers that flow, and the mountains that stand tall. Nature teaches me about the beauty of life and the importance of taking care of our planet.

In conclusion, there are many things I am grateful for. My family, health, education, nature, and the challenges I face. These things make me who I am and fill my life with joy and meaning. I believe that being grateful makes us happier and more positive. So, let’s always remember to be thankful for the good things in our life.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Happy studying!

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5 Strong UPenn “Thank You” Essay Examples

What’s covered, essay example 1 – the power of the arts, essay example 2 – turning a flaw into a talent, essay example 3 – girl dad, essay example 4 – thank you for the music, essay example 5 – middle school english.

Where to Get Feedback on your UPenn Essays

Founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin, the University of Pennsylvania is one of the eight Ivy League institutions. Its beautiful campus features unique red-and-green-brick buildings, gorgeous tree-lined paths, and lots of tributes to Ben Franklin. In addition to its elite academics, UPenn is also known for its thriving student life–it’s even nicknamed “the social Ivy.” UPenn also enjoys the benefits of being situated in the heart of Philadelphia, just a stone’s throw from myriad museums, gardens, cathedrals, and historic sites, including Independence Hall.

Between its superb academics, vibrant social scene, and prime location, UPenn is one of the most competitive schools in the country. As a result, your essays need to shine, to set you apart from other smart, talented applicants. In this post, we’ll break down five responses to UPenn’s “Thank You” supplemental prompt, which was added during the 2022-2023 applications cycle. We’ll lay out what each essay did well, and any areas for improvement.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized.

Read our UPenn essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts.

UPenn “Thank You” Prompt

The following essays respond to this prompt:

Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge. (We encourage you to share this note with that person, if possible, and reflect on the experience!) (150 – 200 words)

Since this prompt is a relatively recent addition to UPenn’s list of supplements, and doesn’t fit neatly into one of the classic supplemental essay boxes (like “Why School?” or “Why Major?” ), you may not be quite sure where to start. To help you out, we’ve compiled five responses real students wrote to this prompt. You can read the essays below, and get our breakdowns of each one’s strengths and weaknesses.

Dear Mrs. Peterson,

After finishing my drawing of Timothée Chalamet this semester, I was stunned by its beauty—it was one of the first pieces that I was proud of. Because of the debacle with the charcoal drawing of my sister last year, I avoided drawing another human. Yet, you persisted in encouraging me to tackle this challenge; from achieving Timothée’s chiseled cheekbones to highlighting his curls, you always stood by my side—even when I wanted to quit.

Honing my artistic abilities was only a portion of what you taught me. You always encouraged me to be vulnerable, and I am gratified by our insightful conversations. From consoling me through the stress of finals to supporting my aspirations of becoming a lawyer, you never wavered in listening to my stories. You weren’t just my art teacher, but my shoulder.

I am inspired by how you lead your life with compassion and authenticity. Watching you build a community through dialogue furthered my own love of interaction as an instrument to foster connection. Thank you for being my guidepost. You made a home for me in your class, and it saddens me that I will be leaving it soon.

Gratefully,

Future Empathetic Lawyer

What the Essay Did Well

A strong hook is an essential part of any essay, to really draw a reader into the story. This writer does an excellent job immediately grabbing our attention by describing a tangible object that represents why they are thankful to their art teacher, which is a far more powerful technique than just saying something general like “You have made me a much better artist.”

The drawing of Timothée Chalamet also serves as an anchor for the traits the writer wants to highlight about themselves, such as risk-taking (taking on the challenge of drawing “his chiseled cheekbones…[and] curls” ) and perseverance ( “you always stood by my side” ). Remember that showing your reader something about yourself, through a tangible example like an art project, makes your points far more convincing than just telling them you are a certain way, as then you’re just leaving them to take your word for it.

The writer also seamlessly transitions from talking about their drawing to talking about how their art teacher has helped them in general, with the line “Honing my artistic abilities was only a portion of what you taught me.” This line provides the perfect jumping-off point for the writer to show us how their teacher has supported them in non-art contexts as well.

Finally, in a big-picture sense, the writer strikes a great balance between highlighting their art teacher’s virtues, and how those virtues have helped them grow and develop their own personality. With this prompt, there’s a risk that you end up talking too much about the person you’re thanking, and not enough about yourself–remember, you’re the one admissions officers are trying to make a decision about! But this writer avoids that pitfall by always connecting the things they admire in their art teacher to qualities they have developed themselves.

What Could Be Improved

There is not much room for improvement in this essay. The author directly connects the values they have learned from their art teacher to tangible experiences, which ensures their essay will stand out even from other essays written about teachers.

The only point in the essay that reads a little strangely is the inclusion of the word “empathetic” in the student’s signature. Although we can read between the lines that they learned empathy from their teacher, that actually isn’t a value they name outright. They do highlight vulnerability, compassion, authenticity, and connection, so to make the end of the essay feel more cohesive, they could either replace “empathetic” with something like “compassionate,” or just make sure they do explicitly include empathy in the body of the essay.

Dear Mr. Gonzalez,

I want to take a moment to thank you for the encouragement and support you have given me throughout my high school career. You have been a great teacher and mentor, and I am lucky to have you in my life.

However, I would especially like to thank you for helping me discover my gifts and turning them into abilities. All my life, I have been told that my love of talking with anyone and everyone was an annoyance at best and a flaw at worst. You decided to turn this “flaw” into one of my greatest joys. You taught me how to meticulously craft words and introduced me to rhetoric. Before, I never noticed how perfectly my skill for speaking and writing played into my other skills and talents.

You helped me learn that I grow best when thrust into high-pressure situations. The speeches and the competitions you signed me up for made me incredibly nervous but also incredibly proud.

You taught me that anything you love can be used to bring you happiness, and, more importantly, to help others.

Much appreciative,

This student uses this letter to say a touching, genuine thank you to a teacher who has helped them “turn [a] ‘flaw’ into one of [their] greatest joys.” Rather than highlighting a more generic trait like work ethic, the writer chooses a core value that shows they are able to deeply reflect on how they became the person they are, and how this teacher helped them with that development.

The writer’s impressive ability for introspection is also shown by their description of how their loquaciousness has always been a part of them (which we understand from the line “All my life” ), but their teacher was the first person to help that quality blossom. Rather than framing the essay around a quality that someone else taught them directly, they show that they understand growth can happen in a variety of ways, which in turn shows that they are a mature, emotionally intelligent person.

The author begins their essay very generically, by thanking their teacher for “encouragement and support” and saying that he is a “great teacher and mentor.” Remember, the point of any college essay is to help distinguish yourself from other applicants, and these lines could have been plucked from just about anybody’s “Thank You” essay.

Especially given the low word count, the student should use each sentence purposefully, rather than wasting space on general pleasantries. They would be better off starting the letter with the line “I would like to thank you for helping me discover my gifts and turning them into abilities.” As noted above, this personal, specific reason they are grateful to their teacher is really the heart of the essay, and thus should be given as much attention as possible.

Along the same lines, cutting the general introductions at the beginning would also give the writer more space to explain how their teacher helped them become more confident in their gifts. Rather than just saying that he “taught [them] how to meticulously craft words and introduced [them] to rhetoric,” the writer should provide us with an anecdote that shows what their teacher did specifically to improve their speaking and writing skills. This might look something like:

“I will never forget breaking down some of history’s most famous speeches with you, from the Gettysburg Address to ‘I Have a Dream,’ and slowly starting to understand how I could use these great orators’ techniques myself.”

Likewise, in the third paragraph, the student should provide context for how they reacted to high-pressure situations before their teacher started signing them up for speeches and competitions. They could include something along the lines of “In the past, I always shied away from the spotlight and never felt confident enough to pursue my passion for public speaking, but your faith in my talents pushed me to break past my mental boundaries.” By telling us what the student was like before meeting Mr. Gonzalez, this line emphasizes the importance of the lesson they learned from him.

Finally, in the last sentence of the letter, the student says that their teacher has taught them “to help others.” However, the essay never discussed helping others, so this lesson comes out of nowhere. Especially in the conclusion, you want to be sure that the points you make are supported by the rest of the essay. In the case of this student, that means they would be better off just sticking with the line “You taught me that anything you love can be used to bring you happiness,” as that is a quality they have discussed in detail.

I’ll always remember the times you corrected our Arabic-speaking friends when they greeted you with Abu Jack [Jack’s father] instead of Abu Julia [Julia’s father], proudly breaking the patriarchal tradition of referring to parents by the name of their eldest son, even when their first child is a daughter. Despite our disagreements on everything from economics to foreign policy, your simultaneous open-mindedness and commitment to your values remind me to appreciate intellectual plurality grounded in respect.

Thank you for motivating me to constantly learn more with your encyclopedia-like knowledge of the world. For inspiring me to see beauty in language, history, literature, and science. For strengthening my empathy through every late-night dinner debate. For spending hours discussing each book we share, from Sapiens to Sophie’s World.

Please never stop asking me for advice on your poetry to gauge whether your metaphors translate to English. Never lose the softness in your heart that makes you cry while we watch Coco for the third time because it reminds you of your family. Keep reminding me to “demand evidence and think critically,” even though I tease you for buying a sweatshirt plastered with the phrase.

Your mini-you

Although many other applicants are likely to write letters to parents or other family members, this writer ensures her essay will still stand out by structuring her essay around stories and anecdotes that are personal to her relationship with her dad. Her father’s rejection of a “patriarchal tradition,” two specific examples of books they have read together, and her description of one of his favorite sweatshirts all show what makes their connection different from any other between a father and daughter.

More broadly, these personal anecdotes help readers understand this writer’s background as a whole, not just her relationship with her dad. The essays are admissions officers’ number one resource for understanding how you’ll fit into their campus community as a person, not just a student, and this essay gives us a clear sense of the intellect and compassion this writer would contribute to late night conversations with her roommate, interactions with the dining hall staff, and all the other “little moments” that truly define a college experience.

Unfortunately, this essay falls into the trap outlined in our breakdown of Essay Example 1: we learn more about the author’s dad than we do about her. We know he breaks patriarchal tradition, has encyclopedia-like knowledge, loves poetry, and gets emotional when watching the movie Coco, but we don’t learn anything concrete about this student’s values, only that she admires these qualities in him.

To improve this, the author can reframe some of her ideas to be more focused on herself. For example, take the paragraph:

“Thank you for motivating me to constantly learn more with your encyclopedia-like knowledge of the world. For inspiring me to see beauty in language, history, literature, and science. For strengthening my empathy through every late-night dinner debate. For spending hours discussing each book we share, from Sapiens to Sophie’s World.”

Instead of spending most of the space highlighting her father’s virtues, she should rephrase this paragraph to be grounded in actions she has taken as a result of feeling inspired by her father. This could look something like:

“Your encyclopedia-like knowledge of the world has motivated me to linger by paintings in museums for a few seconds longer, to make sure I fully grasp the artist’s intentions, give Moby Dick a second chance even though I couldn’t get past the third chapter on my first attempt, and start self-studying Italian.”

As you can see, fleshing out her ideas in this way will take up space, and right now the essay covers too much ground for her to do this for each point she makes: she touches on Arabic culture, disagreements they have had, films and books they’ve enjoyed together, and general values she has learned from her father like empathy.

Narrowing her focus will give her the space she needs to make the essay more personal, and also communicate in a more cohesive way what her dad has taught her, as right now readers might leave feeling confused about what the most important lesson she has learned from him is. Choosing just one or two things to focus on will make the essay feel more unified.

Dear Mrs. Charles,

Entering your classroom, it was the lively music that drew me in, yet it would be your energetic voice that would hook me into the countless lessons about history for the next nine months. There was no dull moment, only excitement and the curiosity to learn more. You have instilled beyond knowledge, but more importantly, the inquisitive admiration for education and especially America, an impression so deeply indented in an immigrant like me. You looked out for me even when I was too insecure about my residential status to ask for help. With my first ever letter of recommendation, you have since advocated for my academic career. Amidst overwhelming college applications, I sobbed reading your note, “Good Luck My Perfect young woman – You deserve the world!” You continuously believe in my potential, and that faith has emboldened me to be the resilient woman I am today. Thank you, Mrs. Charles, for encouraging me when things seemed impossible, mentoring me when I was lost, and strengthening my confidence when no one was there. It has been an honor to be your student, and I cannot wish for any other teachers to have changed my life this way.

This student’s genuine gratitude towards her teacher comes across in her strong personal voice, which is reflected in engaging lines like “there was no dull moment” and “the inquisitive admiration for education and especially America, an impression so deeply indented in an immigrant like me.” We can tell that the student’s appreciation for her teacher comes from moments that were truly formative for her, and that authenticity wins us over by pulling at our heartstrings with strong word choices and phrasings.

Although this essay does a great job of expressing the emotional depth of this student’s relationship with her teacher, it lacks the specific details to evidence how this relationship has grown over time. For example, the student writes:

“You have instilled beyond knowledge, but more importantly, the inquisitive admiration for education and especially America, an impression so deeply indented in an immigrant like me. You looked out for me even when I was too insecure about my residential status to ask for help.”

While these lines are compelling, and speak to how the teacher looks out for the writer as an individual, not just a student, we don’t get any details about how she “instilled beyond knowledge” or “looked out for” the student. An anecdote that provides some of those details would give us a clearer sense of why this relationship is so meaningful to this student. That might look something like:

“You went out of your way to meet with me every week as I prepared for my mock debate on the pros and cons of the American public education system, a system that, as an immigrant, I had always admired. I had been too nervous about my residential status to ask you for help understanding the points my peers knew instinctively, and so it meant the world to me when you asked me to join you for a snack at your desk after class one day. This discrete support made me feel simultaneously looked out for and empowered.”

Finally, this essay would look better on the page if it were split into two or even three paragraphs. A huge block of text on the page can be daunting, and you don’t want to turn off your readers before they even start. Plus, breaking up your ideas into smaller paragraphs can also make your essay easier to understand, as your reader can focus on one point at a time, rather than trying to keep everything in mind simultaneously as they’re reading.

Also on a structural level, the writer should have a signature of some kind. If you were writing a note to someone in a non-college essay context, you wouldn’t leave it unsigned. So, while it’s a small detail, to be true to what the prompt is asking, this student should include a signature.

Dear Mrs. King,

Even though it has been five years since I’ve stepped into your English classroom at Harrison Middle, I remember the sound of your enthusiastic voice and genuine smile like it was yesterday.

Your energy was contagious and your quick wittedness unmatched. The way you effortlessly enthralled the entire class with your love for writing is something I will never forget. When you organized a classwide debate based on our argumentative essay topics, you captivated everyone to the point where enthusiastic shouts bounced off the walls of the room.

You made us feel warm and comfortable. As a rigorous teacher and thinker, your lessons impacted me in and out of the classroom. The door to your classroom was always open if I needed advice, helping me navigate everything from friendships to high school applications. In your presence, I felt like a friend instead of a student, because that was just your comforting nature. Thank you for the moments with you in middle school that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Warm regards,

This essay’s greatest strength is the author’s use of vibrant, playful language, which helps readers vicariously feel Mrs. King’s enthusiasm and energy. For example, the “enthusiastic shouts bouncing off walls” and feeling “like a friend instead of a student, because that was just your comforting nature” drop us right into Mrs. King’s classroom, and allow us to vicariously understand why this student respects her so much.

This essay’s biggest issue is that most of the writer’s points are very generic, and could have been written by anyone, about any teacher. The point of this prompt is to highlight certain aspects of your personality by describing values you have learned from someone else, but the details we get about Mrs. King are very surface-level, like the sound of her voice, smile, and love for writing. As a result, we don’t learn much about either the teacher’s personality or how she has impacted the writer.

The author should instead include stories that show us specific values and lessons they have learned from this teacher. For example, the line “As a rigorous teacher and thinker, your lessons impacted me in and out of the classroom,” could be about nearly anything. To make this line more informative, the writer needs to get much more specific about what their point is, along the lines of:

“When you took us on a field trip to see a production of Hamlet which had recast Ophelia as a man, you challenged me to reconsider how societal standards, which I like to think I’m able to transcend, unavoidably impact my interpretation of literature.”

This version both identifies a particular aspect of the writer’s personality (their ability to push back on preconceived ideas) and something specific Mrs. King did to help them develop that aspect. As a result, admissions officers now get what they really care about: information about who this student is, and how they would fit in at their school.

Where to Get Feedback on Your Essay

Want feedback on your UPenn “Thank You” essay before you submit? That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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You are here: Home » Blog » Gratitude

21 Things to be Thankful For Today (With Examples!)

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We are committed to the highest standards of accuracy and reliability in our content. Every statement made on our website is meticulously fact-checked and supported by authoritative studies.

Being grateful is related to an increase in your happiness

Being thankful is linked to improved quality of sleep, 1. thankful for having a loving dog, 2. thankful for having a caring parent, 3. thankful for the good deeds that exist in this world, 4. thankful for enjoying time spent with my family, 5. thankful for a great show on netflix, 6. thankful for the beautiful sunlight, 7. thankful for the many good memories in my life, 8. thankful for having a roof above my head, 9. thankful for experiencing the struggles in life, 10. thankful for being able to go on walks, 11. thankful for spending time in nature, 12. thankful for getting to spend time with my girlfriend, 13. thankful for waking up each morning with the birds outside of my window, 14. thankful for appreciating music, 15. thankful for getting to be vulnerable, 16. thankful for seeing my strawberry plant grow, 17. thankful for the not-so-great stuff in life, 18. thankful for my life partner, 19. thankful for all the farmers and drivers who nourish us with fresh food, 20. thankful for technology, 21. thankful for the feeling of putting on a fresh pair of socks, wrapping up, why should you be thankful today.

As I mentioned in the intro, there are plenty of reasons to be thankful today.

Even when luck doesn’t seem to be on your side, it’s always good to try to consider some of the things that are still kind to you.

But why exactly should you be thankful? How exactly does a little gratitude improve your life? There have been multiple fascinating studies that prove multiple links between thankfulness and positive factors in life, but I want to highlight two of them here.

One of the most detailed studies on thankfulness was conducted in 2003 by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough . They monitored the happiness of a group of people after having asked the following question:

“There are many things in our lives, both large and small, that we might be grateful about. Think back over the past week and write down on the lines below up to five things in your life that you are grateful or thankful for.”

The study showed that people were approximately 10% happier when encouraged to think of things they’re grateful for.

10 percent may sound inconsequential, but if you practice gratitude every day, these small improvements will compound and may improve your mental health in a significant way.

💡 By the way : Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control. 👇

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

In addition, another study reviewed the influence of gratitude on the quality of sleep.

This study tested whether individual differences in gratitude are related to sleep quality. Gratitude predicted greater subjective sleep quality and sleep duration, and less sleep latency and daytime dysfunction. These results were found after studying 400 people of all ages.

Long story short, thinking about things to be thankful for and grateful for before going to bed is linked to a better quality of sleep. This is also why it’s good to maintain a gratitude journal right before going to sleep!

What are you thankful for today?

Here are 21 examples of what you can be thankful for today. These examples are from real people, as I went online and asked around:

What is something that you are grateful for? For example, you can be grateful for someone smiling at you, for a beautiful sunset, or for some nice music that you recently listened to. Whatever comes to your mind is OK!

Who’s thankful: Suset Laboy

I am deeply grateful for my coffee-loving dog. Every morning, as soon as he smells the coffee my sister is making, he runs to the kitchen because he loves the smell. When she is done, he chases her to the couch and sit on her and tries to convince her to give him some coffee. It is both hilarious and heartwarming, and I have started looking forward to this little morning ritual that brings some much needed levity into our days.

Who’s thankful: Nancy Osoro

I always start my day with a little gratitude as soon as my feet hit the floor. But lately, I have been very grateful for my mom who is constantly reminding me to drink my fresh ginger tea to keep me healthy during these crazy and stressful times. Despite a 7-hour time difference, she makes it a point of calling every day. It makes me realize how lucky I am.

Who’s thankful: Leia Kalani

We live in a crazy world and it’s far too easy to only see the negative around us. I am so grateful every time I see someone do a good deed for someone else, even a small gesture can have a huge impact. Whether it’s helping a blind person cross the street, carrying groceries for the elderly, or even holding the door open for someone, these good deeds rekindle my belief in the good of humanity. It’s easy to get bogged down by society but opening your eyes and seeing the good can make you thankful that there are still good people in the world.

This list wouldn’t be complete without a specific mention of family.

The truth is, I love spending time with my family, mainly my parents, brother, and sister. I’m thankful for the time my brother, sister and I ran a marathon together. Or the many dinners at my parents’ with the entire family. Or when my father takes my brother and me to Austria for a couple of days of hiking in the mountains.

I am extremely thankful for having a loving family, and it’s something that I should always try to remember when I’m feeling down or unhappy.

Who’s thankful: Nancy Irwin

I’m grateful for the amazing cast, set designers, and costumes of The Crown. I am so grateful that I can curl up in a soft blanket on my sofa and binge this amazing educational, historical, fascinating show during my free time now.

Who’s thankful: Joy Rains

I’m grateful for sunlight! Yesterday afternoon, a sunbeam entered my home through the dining room window. Bright yellow circles of light landed on the legs of my dining room chairs. Each chair looked to be adorned with glistening jewels. I smiled, grateful to be a witness to nature’s magic.

This is something that I’m personally very grateful for in my life.

I keep an entire memory journal dedicated to remembering the many good memories of my life.

I find that remembering good memories helps me maintain a happy mind. Thinking back about that time that I laughed my ass off about something silly brings a smile to my face. This is something I try to do daily, whenever I find a moment to stand still and think about my life.

Who’s thankful: Tessa Hull

I’m grateful for knowing that I’m not “stuck” in the house but “safe” in the house while others out there cannot be so lucky, either not having a roof over their head or not feeling safe in their own home. Knowing how to reframe my thoughts when I’m feeling rubbish helps. I’m also super grateful for a steady supply of Italian cheese. Because not everything you’re grateful for needs to be so serious.

Who’s thankful: Noelle Creamer

Something that I am grateful for are struggles. To me, they are a gift. Rather than living a life of luxury and ease, my struggles over the years have taught me value, wisdom, and compassion. They have led me to spiritual growth. The greater the challenge I face, the more I learn, the more I progress, and the stronger I become. For that, I am grateful.

Who’s thankful: Emily Adams

I am grateful to have my health and the fact that I can still spend time in nature. On my walk today I was able to see four baby foxes and just soak it all in and I am grateful for that.

Who’s thankful: Nekeshia Hammond

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to spend time in nature. Whether it is taking the time to watch a sunset, spending time on a beach, or enjoying time in the mountains (if I’m visiting another place), nature offers such peace of mind. As we can all get so busy with the day-to-day, it’s nice to unwind, take some deep breaths, and focus on the beauty that nature has to offer.

This is one that I personally wanted to include in this list. I’m incredibly grateful for the fact that my girlfriend and I somehow found each other in this world with over 7 billion people.

My relationship is one of my biggest happiness factors . I love my girlfriend and she makes my life happier on a daily basis. It almost sounds cheesy to write it down, but I just don’t want to take this relationship for granted. I feel lucky to have her in my life and wouldn’t want to imagine what it’d be like if it was any different.

It’s one of the things I’m most thankful for in life.

Who’s thankful: Lynell Ross

Each morning, I am treated with a visit from these precious little birds, first flying back and forth, then hovering in front of the glass as if they are saying good morning before they sit to drink their nectar. I love seeing their tiny little hummingbird shape and color so close up, reminding me to be aware of nature, which is so comforting and peaceful.

This is another one that I personally wanted to add to the list.

If you still have your hearing, then you should be grateful for the beauty of sound. The fact that multiple sound waves combined form music that can carry emotion, tension, and excitement is something that we often take for granted.

Music has the power to move. I personally experience this every once in a while, when a song sucks me in and takes me on a journey. This journey always ends up putting a smile on my face, and sometimes even brings me to tears. Tears of happiness, that is.

The fact that we’re able to hear and appreciate sounds and music is definitely something to be thankful for.

Who’s thankful: Michelle Kuei

I am grateful for all the connections I am able to make when I let my guard down and become vulnerable. Being able to use my vulnerability as a superpower to share my story with others provides healing in the heart of others. It gives them strength and comfort knowing they are not alone. This brings me joy, fulfillment, and purpose in my heart. I am grateful for the connections I have made through being vulnerable and sharing my story.

Who’s thankful: Chris Kaiser

One small thing I’m super grateful for is seeing the flowers on the very first strawberry plant I ever planted. We planted it about 3 weeks ago on our balcony, and since then I’m diligently counting every single flower it produces (13 in total so far). Every tiny new flower puts a broad smile to my face.

Who’s thankful: Allen Klein

This may sound strange, but I’m grateful for the not-so-great stuff in my life. They are my greatest teachers. For example, I learned about living fully from those who have passed on. I’ve learned to appreciate my body more from the times things don’t function as they should. And now, I’m learning about being grateful for the parks in my neighborhood now that I have to shelter in place during this pandemic.

Who’s thankful: Saurabh Jindal

The biggest gift to me has been my wife, Rashmi Agarwal. She has been an unflinching pillar of support as I have gone through many difficult times while trying to build my start-up. She is one of the smartest persons I have met and has an uncanny ability to look at any situation from multiple angles. As an entrepreneur, I sometimes work on my own and with small teams – and with her help I am able to achieve much more than what I would otherwise.

Who’s thankful: Naz Beheshti

I’m grateful for tasty celery again for my daily celery and lemon juice. I was about to take a break from my morning ritual since I was getting really bitter tasting celery at the store. But I persisted and waited in line for it, and now it’s tasty again. I’m grateful for all the farmers and drivers who nourish us with fresh and tasty products!

Who’s thankful: Terrell Strayhorn

I’m really grateful for technology. Cell phones that keep me connected to my family, kids, colleagues, and students during the pandemic. Laptops and iPads that enable video connections via Zoom, provide “mental breaks” to play games or watch videos, and even apps for journaling and writing. Homepods and headphones that let me listen to music as a backdrop to serious activities like writing or analyzing data, but also music as a distraction to the crisis impacting us all. Today, I’m grateful for technology.

As a final item on this list, I wanted to finish with something silly and funny. But that doesn´t mean it’s less true.

Whenever I buy a new 5-pack of socks, I’m always surprised by how nice it feels to put them on for the first time. The feeling of smoothness that comes with putting on a pair of new socks is something I am truly grateful for.

Don’t you agree?

💡 By the way : If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here. 👇

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

There you have it. If you still can’t think of things to be thankful for, then I give up! I hope you now have a good understanding of why you should always be able to remember something to be thankful for. And don’t forget, you can be thankful for silly things that seem insignificant (like putting on a pair of fresh socks!).

Did I miss something that you would have liked to see on this list? Do you want to have your favorite thing to be thankful for listed in this article? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!

Founder of Tracking Happiness, with over 100 interviews and a focus on practical advice, our content extends beyond happiness tracking. Hailing from the Netherlands, I’m a skateboarding enthusiast, marathon runner, and a dedicated data junkie, tracking my happiness for over a decade.

Gratitude Essay

500+ words essay on be grateful.

During difficult times, it’s easy to feel frustrated or drained by life. Negative feelings and thoughts can creep in, which can make it difficult to see the positive things in life. However, one simple practice of gratitude can help to eliminate these feelings. We take a look at the importance of being grateful through this being grateful essay. Students can also use this essay to practise more essays on similar topics like gratitude, being grateful, being grateful etc. Doing so will improve their writing section and increase their scores in the English exam.

What is Gratitude?

The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. The word gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation or thanks. It is defined as “a sense of thankfulness and joy in response to receiving a gift, whether the gift is a tangible benefit from a specific other or a moment of peaceful bliss evoked by natural beauty”. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives.

There are different ways of expressing one’s thanks. Gratitude is one such emotion. People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. Some of them apply it to the past by retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings. Some people are grateful for the present as they do not take good fortune for granted. Some people show gratitude for the future as they hope for a better future and maintain an optimistic attitude.

Importance of Gratitude

Gratitude enhances the quality of life and makes existence more worth living. It opens the human heart and carries the urge to give back-to do something good in return, either for the person who helped us or for someone else. It establishes social harmony and creates an environment where everyone is appreciating and providing support to each other. It also improves the quality of personal lives and strengthens the bond with family and friends. Expressing gratitude keeps us happy, healthy and stress-free.

Feeling grateful reminds people of a joyous event, and expressing gratitude to others often strengthens relationships. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. When we are grateful for others, we do not compare ourselves with others based on their financial situation or other factors, we simply appreciate their achievements. Thus, it helps in elevating the feeling of comparison, jealousy and hate. Being grateful also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or supreme power.

How to Practise Gratitude

Everyone can benefit from making an effort to practise gratitude in day-to-day life. It can be achieved simply by paying attention to the good things that happen to us. We must appreciate and accept the importance of everything in nature and our surroundings. Also, we should not forget to return the favour at an appropriate time. Whenever possible, we should thank the people around us, who make our lives comfortable, such as washermen, gardeners, security guards, sweepers, delivery men, etc. We should make a habit of thanking God when we wake up in the morning and before sleeping at night.

Gratitude is the best way to return the favour to God, nature, society, friends and relatives for the thousands of good deeds that they do for us.

We hope students must have found this “Essay on Gratitude” useful for their studies. To access more study material and get the latest updates on CBSE/ICSE/State Board/Competitive exams, keep visiting BYJU’S. Also, download the BYJU’S App for interactive study videos.

Frequently asked Questions on Gratitude Essay

How to show gratitude towards others.

You can show gratitude by thanking people who help you and being courteous and friendly. You can iInvite people over for lunch/dinner to thank them for something they did for you. Always listen intently to what others are saying to show appreciation and care.

Why is showing gratitude so important?

Psychologists show that there is a positive impact on the brain and body of people who show gratitude.

What are the benefits of showing gratitude?

Showing gratitude helps in emotional regulation by reducing stress and burnout. It also increases your mental resilience because you are able to build meaningful relations with others.

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What is Gratitude and Why Is It So Important?

Do you turn to junk food, self-medication, shopping, etc.?

One healthy, powerful, and free strategy to rise from this temporary emotional state is to practice gratitude.

Gratitude turns what little you have into abundance. Gratitude is so much more than saying thank you. Gratitude changes your perspective of your world.

But yet you wonder how you can find the positive when everything seems so bleak? Read on to learn how to identify the positive when it seems there is nothing to be grateful for. We’ll also explain the importance of gratitude, how to show it to others, and share gratitude and appreciation videos.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Gratitude Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients connect to more positive emotions and enjoy the benefits of gratitude.

This Article Contains:

What is gratitude – its meaning & definition, gratitude & positive psychology – what is the connection, why is it important to be grateful, the importance of gratitude in life, the importance of thanksgiving, how to show gratitude and appreciation, 5 youtube gratitude videos, a take-home message.

Gratitude is an emotion similar to appreciation. The American Psychological Association (n.d.) more specifically defines this phenomenon as a sense of happiness and thankfulness in response to a fortunate happenstance or tangible gift.

Gratitude is both a state and a trait (Jans-Beken et al., 2020). Better explained, one can experience gratitude for someone or something at a certain moment in time, and someone experience gratitude more long-term as a positive character trait.

According to Dr. Robert Emmons, the feeling of gratitude involves two stages (Emmons & McCullough, 2003):

First comes the acknowledgment of goodness in one’s life. In a state of gratitude, we say yes to life. We affirm that, all in all, life is good and has elements that make it worth living. The acknowledgment that we have received something gratifies us, both by its presence and by the effort the giver put into choosing it.

Second, gratitude is recognizing that sources of this goodness lie outside the self. One can be grateful to our creator, other people, animals, and the world, but not to oneself. At this stage, we recognize the goodness in our lives and who to thank for it.

The two stages of gratitude comprise the recognition of the goodness in our lives and then how this goodness came to us. Through this process, we recognize the fortune of everything that improves our lives and ourselves.

Further, gratitude can be considered either a dispositional trait or a state of being.

As a trait, an individual practices gratitude as part of their daily life (McCullough et al., 2002), and it is considered a character strength . It is important to remember that gratitude is a strength that can be enhanced with awareness and practice.

When a person experiences the emotion from someone expressing gratitude for them, it is referred to as a state (Watkins et al., 2009).

As part of Seligman’s PERMA model , which includes positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement, a key positive emotion includes gratitude (Lianov, 2021).

Robert Emmons has led positive psychology’s expansion of research on the importance of gratitude. Emmons has authored several papers on the psychology of gratitude, showing that being more grateful can lead to increased levels of wellbeing (Emmons & Crumpler, 2000).

Download 3 Free Gratitude Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you or your clients with tools to build daily gratitude habits, express more appreciation toward others, and experience more positive emotions in everyday life.

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Passmore and Oades (2016) assert that as expectations have changed, gratitude has diminished in western society. Possessions and health are expectations for many individuals rather than considered personal ‘blessings’ that are appreciated. “Gratitude has, for many, been replaced by disappointment, anger, and resentment when these expected ‘blessings’ either do not appear or they disappear” (Passmore & Oades, 2016, p. 43).

We have learned gratitude helps people focus on the positive aspects of their life. Gratitude can help build and maintain relationships with others, resulting in hope, life satisfaction, and more proactive behaviors toward others (Passmore & Oades, 2016).

If you still aren’t convinced, you may wish to pick up one of the books suggested in our Gratitude Books article.

Gratitude has been found to be beneficially associated with social wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, and psychological wellbeing (Jans-Beken et al., 2020). It is no surprise that trait gratitude is an important “predictor of wellbeing and other desirable life outcomes” (Portocarrero et al., 2020, p. 6).

Gratitude appears to have a domino effect. If a person experiences gratitude, they are more likely to recognize the help and then later reciprocate that help (Wood et al., 2010). People who are thanked are presumably more apt to extend help to others in the future.

Likewise, people who are not thanked may not be expected to provide reciprocation in the future. The expression of gratitude is beneficial for both individuals and society (Bono et al., 2004).

Further, gratitude is an element in many religions. For example (Passmore & Oades, 2016),

Buddhism – Gratitude is indicative of the concept of dependent origination, which implies that everything is interconnected. For Buddhists, awareness of our interdependent and interconnected existence evokes gratitude for the web of life that sustains us.
Judaism – Individuals practicing Judaism may start the day with Modeh Ani, a short Hebrew blessing thanking God for life.
Christianity – Christians denote gratitude to God by stating blessings. These blessings are said in a prayer form and are created for food, family, life, and any other blessings that God may grant.

What exactly is gratitude, and how can we experience more of it daily?

Gratitude is the act of recognizing and acknowledging the good things that happen, resulting in a state of appreciation (Sansone & Sansone, 2010).

Often when we consider what we are grateful for, overt and profound life experiences, circumstances, and events come to mind. We may feel grateful for our upbringing, family, job, good health, and the opportunity to gain an education. While recognizing and being grateful for these experiences is important, our gratitude practice must also venture below the surface.

Below the surface, we find the simple, everyday pleasures that often go unnoticed. This may be a great book we read, laughter with a friend, or even the joy of eating ice cream in the sunshine. Whatever these simple pleasures may be, consciously expressing our gratitude for them can help us grow our daily gratitude practice beyond the surface level.

We invite you to consider the full iceberg of gratitude, your fortunate life experiences, as well as simple daily pleasures.

If you are from North America, then cornucopia, turkey, Pilgrims, and Native Americans may come to mind when you mention the word ‘Thanksgiving.’ Thanksgiving is more broadly explained as a day to give thanks. Countries such as Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia also celebrate Thanksgiving, while countries like Brazil and the Philippines celebrate it unofficially (Vicens, 2022).

The Netherlander town of Leiden and the Australian territory of Norfolk Island also celebrate this holiday (Vicens, 2022). Similarly, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan celebrate a fall harvest, where people also give thanks.

So why is there an entire holiday created for giving thanks?

For many, “Thanksgiving is a collective ritual that celebrates material abundance through feasting.” (Wallendorf & Arnould, 1991, p. 13). Thanksgiving is important because it is a designated time assigned to encourage us to pause to be mindful of the blessings we have. Many of us get so caught up in our day-to-day routines that we fail to stop and acknowledge our fortunes.

To demonstrate and celebrate gratitude, you don’t need a particular holiday to show thankfulness. Conveying gratitude should be practiced daily.

To improve your gratitude, reflect on how better you can show your appreciation to others. When verbally expressing gratitude to someone, consider reflecting on your emotions and on the effort involved. Here are some examples:

‘Your birthday gift to me makes me overjoyed. I appreciate the length you went to in order to find this limited edition book by my favorite author. I value that you know me so well and did this especially for me.’

‘Mom, I am grateful for the life you have given me. Even though it took 15 hours to deliver me and raising me was full of challenges, you have done the best you could and I appreciate that.’

‘Our Father in Heaven, you have blessed me with ten fingers and ten toes, eyes to see and ears to hear. I am grateful for the wonder of your creation and for sparing my life every day.’

For more examples, read our article How to Express Gratitude to Others .

Gratitude journal

A gratitude journal involves jotting down a few things that you are thankful for and can be done daily or weekly as you so choose. Keeping a gratitude journal is a good first step toward establishing gratitude, and it will help you identify and reflect on people, things, or events for which you are thankful.

Nawa and Yamagishi’s (2021) research involving university students concluded that completing a gratitude journal not only positively impacts academic motivation, it favorably influences goal-directed behavior in general.

In this study, 84 students were placed into either an active manipulation group (gratitude group) or a neutral control group. For two weeks, the active manipulation group was asked to list five things they were grateful for and evaluate various aspects of their daily lives, while the control group was only asked to do daily self-evaluations. Unsurprisingly, the gratitude group demonstrated significant enhancements in academic motivation.

You can make use of our gratitude journal article, which includes journal worksheets with prompts to guide you into the good habit of daily gratitude journaling.

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“The best positive psychology resource out there!” — Emiliya Zhivotovskaya , Flourishing Center CEO

Gratitude letter

Writing a gratitude letter is a form of written communication that conveys an appreciation for someone in your life. These effectively communicate the impact someone has had on our lives.

Further, the gratitude research conducted by Iodice et al. (2021) concluded that individuals who wrote about things they are grateful for showed better mood, coping, and physical health. In this study, participants were assigned to one of three groups: Group one wrote about things they were grateful for, group two wrote about daily hassles, and group three wrote about a neutral topic.

Within their review of literature, these researchers also cited Emmons and McCullough (2003), whose findings suggested that individuals who practiced gratitude by writing about things they are grateful for showed better mood, coping, and physical health than the other participants.

The gratitude visit

Take the gratitude letter a step further by visiting the person to whom you are giving the gratitude letter and reading it aloud to him or her. A study by Wood et al. (2010) suggests that gratitude visits are a practice that is even more beneficial than a gratitude letter and practitioners of this strategy reported more happiness.

In their preliminary research, Wood et al. (2010) referenced two studies involving gratitude visits. In a study by Seligman et al. (2005), adults from an internet sample were instructed to write and deliver their gratitude letter within 1-week. Those who went on the gratitude visit reported more happiness and less depression than the control group.

Another study by Froh, Kashdan et al., (2009; Froh, Yurkewicz et al., 2009) resulted in similar findings. A sample of children and adolescents from a parochial school were divided into two groups: a group who conducted a gratitude visit and a group who wrote about daily events. Findings indicated that the youth who experienced the gratitude condition reported greater gratitude and positive affect than the youth in the control condition.

As we know, meditation is a method for focusing attention (Pascoe et al., 2021). Pascoe et al. (2021) conducted a systematic review of studies assessing the impact of meditation on psychological processes. They found that meditation, does in fact, “decrease distress experienced resulting from psychological stressors by influencing psychological processes” (p. 3).

Although meditation doesn’t directly demonstrate gratitude towards others, meditation and focusing attention on people or things you are grateful for indicates appreciation to yourself, which could help to foster even more gratitude.

No matter how small or grand the gesture of gratitude is, it is essential to show thankfulness in our everyday lives. After all,

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

William Arthur Ward (Brainyquote.com, n.d.)

We have a dedicated article offering gratitude meditation guidance for you to peruse.

17 Exercises To Nurture Gratitude & Appreciation

Empower others with more hope, satisfaction, and fulfilling relationships with these 17 Gratitude & Appreciation Exercises [PDF] that harness the powerful benefits of gratitude.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

These five handpicked gratitude videos will not only inspire you to practice gratefulness but also inform you of the importance of daily practicing this state or trait. If you’d like to enjoy an even greater selection, our blog post Best TED Talks And Videos on The Power of Gratitude shares over 30 excellent videos.

Gratitude is: A poem & animation – Macarena Luz Bianchi

Gratitude Is is a short, light-hearted poem accompanied by animation. This poem is also a full-color gift book available on Amazon as a highly-rated read. This would be a great video to share when beginning to discuss gratitude with a class.

The power of choosing gratitude – Tye Dutcher

Tye Dutcher, an international paralympic athlete, describes how gratitude changed and continues to change his life. After he experienced a horrifying accident at just 11 years old, Tye had a choice. He chose gratitude. He explains his thankfulness for what he has and the blessings he will receive.

The power of gratitude – Titan Man

If you practice gratitude daily, no matter how much or how little you have, you will be happy. This is the message Titan Man delivers in his video narrated by Oprah Winfrey. This video would be beneficial in serving as a daily reminder to show gratitude.

Gratitude is good for you – John Templeton Foundation

If you would like to know the additional benefits of gratitude , this short video by the John Templeton Foundation is fast-paced and engaging. Several strategies for growing gratitude are shared.

The power of gratitude – Psych2Go

Being grateful will make you healthier and happier. While you may have already gotten this message, this video explains the research conducted with adults and children that completed a type of gratitude journal. Gratitude in regard to mental health is discussed in greater detail.

Someone could have everything and still feel like they have nothing. Someone could have nothing but still be happy with what they have. Recognizing gratitude towards non-tangibles, such as health and relationships, is a good start.

As we have learned in this piece, gratitude has endless benefits for both individuals and society and has deep roots in positive psychology.

It can be identified in many religions, as well as in the secular world. It is crucial to understand that gratitude can be defined as both a state and a trait. Perhaps with the exercises provided in this article, you will be able to move from a grateful state to a healthy trait.

There are various ways to demonstrate gratitude. Regardless of the method you choose, it is critical to convey thankfulness. Additionally, you don’t need to wait for a holiday to show appreciation.

Gratitude is the key to a happy life and should be continuous, practiced daily. Another important takeaway is that gratitude can have a snowball effect. You never know the positive effects your gratefulness will have on others and the future impact it will have.

Gratitude is a perspective – it is a choice. We hope that you choose gratitude today and every day. We’d like to leave you with this quote,

“Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift.”

John Ortberg (Zito, 2022).

To read more inspirational gratitude quotes, kindly refer to this article by Barbara Bellise Zito .

Who or what are you grateful for? How are you going to convey this thankfulness? Please let us know in the comments, or better yet, let that person know! Until next time, please know that we are thankful for YOU, our gracious reader!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Gratitude Exercises for free .

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Gratitude . Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/gratitude
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Brainyquote.com. (n.d.). Retrieved on January 3, 2023 from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_arthur_ward_105516
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Jans-Beken, L., Jacobs, N., Janssens, M., Peeters, S., Reijnders, J., Lechner, L., & Lataster, J. (2020). Gratitude and health: An updated review. The Journal of Positive Psychology , 15(6), 743-782. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1651888
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Lianov, L. (2021). A powerful antidote to physician burnout: intensive healthy lifestyle and positive psychology approaches. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine , 15(5), 563-566. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F15598276211006626
McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. A. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 82(1), 112-127. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.1.112
Nawa, N. E., & Yamagishi, N. (2021). Enhanced academic motivation in university students following a 2-week online gratitude journal intervention. BMC psychology , 9(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00559-w
Pascoe, M. C., de Manincor, M., Tseberja, J., Hallgren, M., Baldwin, P. A., & Parker, A. G. (2021). Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the mood benefits of meditation: A narrative review. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology , 6, 100037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100037
Passmore, J., & Oades, L. G. (2016). Positive psychology techniques: Gratitude. The Coaching Psychologist , 12 (1). 34-35. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119835714.ch50
Portocarrero, F. F., Gonzalez, K., & Ekema-Agbaw, M. (2020). A meta-analytic review of the relationship between dispositional gratitude and well-being. Personality and Individual Differences , 164, 110101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110101
Sansone, R. A., & Sansone, L. A. (2010). Gratitude and well being: the benefits of appreciation. Psychiatry (edgmont), 7(11) , 18.
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist , 60, 410–421. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.60.5.410
Vicens, L. (2022). For all the blessings of this life: On worship as thanksgiving. J ournal of Analytic Theology , 10, 54-64. https://doi.org/10.12978/jat.2022-10.110407210818
Wallendorf, M., & Arnould, E. J. (1991). “We gather together”: Consumption rituals of thanksgiving day. Journal of Consumer Research , 18(1), 13-31. https://doi.org/10.1086/209237
Watkins, P. C., Van Gelder, M., & Frias, A. (2009). 41 Furthering the science of gratitude. Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology , 437. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195187243.013.0041
Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review , 30(7), 890-905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005
Zito, B. (November, 8, 2022). 55 Best Gratitude Quotes – Short Quotes About Gratitude . Retrieved on January 3, 2023 from https://news.yahoo.com/55-best-gratitude-quotes-short-172941196.html

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This was exceptionally informative, thanks for the terrific post!

great information that has been shared. really appreciate it 🙂

I am so grateful for all of this research concerning the attitude of Gratitude We need to be grateful not only to God but to every human we come across in this life. Being thankful to our mothers for delivering us to this world is a new thing that impressed me greatly

Thank you for all the acknowledgement and the gratitude of the whole study. I know the positive effects and I see it as I practice it a lot and teach or be taught. And it has taught me a lot and I will benefit from it. I appreciate all the hard work you put into it. thank you

Gratitude is an important part for life it teaches you to be grateful and like what you have until it gets taken away.

Thank you! Very helpful in preparing for my workshop. Love the thoroughness and heartfelt pace of the article. It is easy to snarl at, or resist feeling gratitude.

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Being Thankful For My Life: [Essay Example], 806 words
Being thankful for my life is not just a choice, but a way of being that brings joy, peace, and fulfillment. Research has shown that gratitude can have a profound impact on mental health and well-being. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that individuals who practiced gratitude on a regular basis ...
Things I Am Thankful For in My Life: [Essay Example], 1110 words
Personally, I am grateful for my education, my surroundings, and staying safe during the pandemic. I believe that we should always take the time to appreciate what we have, as there are people out there who do not have the same privileges as us. Being thankful allows us to appreciate the little things in our everyday life.
Essays About Gratitude: Top 5 Examples and 7 Writing Prompts
7. Practicing Gratitude: A Day in My Life. In this essay, reflect on a typical day in your life and highlight the parts that make you feel thankful. This prompt will help you appreciate the trivial things in your life and teach your readers how to treasure even the minor things in their lives.
Essay About Being Grateful: 5 Examples Plus Prompts
Being grateful makes you count your blessings and makes you feel good. 3. Feel And Express Gratitude by Dr. Hyder Zahed. "For, whatever you genuinely feel grateful for, you will have multiply in your life. Think about it, if you gave a gift to another and that person told you, 'I am so grateful for the gift.
Gratitude Essay in English for Students
So, make sure to be grateful for a new day and thank the almighty for making you wiser and stronger with each passing day. Most importantly, try to avoid complaining about things when they don't go your way. You don't know about the blessing behind it. Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas. Conclusion of Gratitude Essay
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An essay on gratitude can be an excellent opportunity to reflect on the things in life that we often take for granted. It's a chance to acknowledge the people, experiences, and things that have made a positive impact on our lives. ... Gratitude is the feeling of being thankful to those who have made efforts for our own work. Gratitude is an ...
being thankful essay
thankfulness in our lives closely. It is time to be thankful of the things that with the fast way of living are taken for granted. To be thankful means to express gratitude and relief about everything around you. The things I am thankful for aren't things that can be bought but things that are earned. First and foremost, I am thankful for ...
50 Things I'm Thankful For
The earth in all its glory. Animals in the wild ( and in the home ) Kittens who purr under my chin. Babies who sigh close to my skin. Eye contact. Honesty/vulnerability. Love-making. Almost all kind of music ( except my youngest son's Screamo Hard Rock Heavy Metal) although I try, (God knows, I try)... Thanks again and again for each day I stay ...
Common Application Essay Option 4—Gratitude
Common Application Essay Option 4—Gratitude. Tips and Strategies for the 2021-22 Common App. One major change to the Common Application in the 2021-22 admissions cycle is the addition of a new essay prompt. Option #4 now reads, "Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way.
15 Fabulous Gratitude Writing Prompts
Gratitude lets you see wonders in life—even when you think life is horrible. On days when you think "what else can wrong?" writing about what you're thankful for helps you heal. And when life is wonderful a gratitude journal reminds you who helped you, supported you, and encouraged you. I want to express my thoughts of thankfulness on ...
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What Makes a Good Gratitude Essay Topics. When it comes to writing an essay about gratitude, choosing the right topic is crucial. A good gratitude essay topic should be thought-provoking, engaging, and unique. It should inspire the writer to delve into their personal experiences and perspective on gratitude, while also sparking interest in the ...
How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times
In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope. In other words, gratitude can help us cope with hard times. Don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that gratitude will come easily or naturally in a crisis. It's easy to feel grateful for the good things.
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500 Words Essay on Things I Am Grateful Introduction. Gratitude is a strong feeling of being thankful to someone or something for the good things they have given you. It's like a magic key that opens up a world of positivity and happiness. Today, I want to share some of the things I am grateful for in my life. Family. First, I am grateful for ...
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Essay Example 1 - The Power of the Arts. Essay Example 2 - Turning a Flaw into a Talent. Essay Example 3 - Girl Dad. Essay Example 4 - Thank You for the Music. Essay Example 5 - Middle School English. Where to Get Feedback on your UPenn Essays. Founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin, the University of Pennsylvania is one of the eight ...
Why I Am Thankful for My Friends
Conclusion. In conclusion, I am thankful for my friends because they are the irreplaceable stars in my constellation of life. Their emotional support, shared experiences, contributions to my personal growth, and role in enhancing my well-being are invaluable. Friendship is a gift that continues to enrich my life, and I am grateful for the ...
21 Things to be Thankful For Today (With Examples!)
Thankful for the many good memories in my life. 8. Thankful for having a roof above my head. 9. Thankful for experiencing the struggles in life. 10. Thankful for being able to go on walks. 11. Thankful for spending time in nature.
Examples Of Being Thankful Essay
Examples Of Being Thankful Essay. 733 Words3 Pages. I have so many wonderful reasons to be thankful. Being thankful allows you to experience life to the fullest. I believe it is important to be thankful for my family and friends. Thankfulness allows you to appreciate what you have so you take care of your things.
How to Express Gratitude to Others: 19 Examples & Ideas
1. Say the words! Words are powerful and the simplest, most direct, way to express gratitude to the people we may take for granted. Given proximity, a verbal expression of your appreciation in person is effective - if you can't do it in person, make the phone call and brighten somebody's day. 2.
Gratitude Essay
500+ Words Essay on Gratitude will help students know the meaning and importance of gratitude so that they can write essays by themselves on such similar topics in exams. ... Some of them apply it to the past by retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings. Some people are grateful for the present ...
Essay On Being Thankful
Essay On Being Thankful. Life is interesting and full of surprises, with new people to meet and new places to go. Life is also mysterious and puzzling. Living life for fifteen years, there are several things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for the positive and the negative in my life. It makes my life interesting and worth living.
What is Gratitude and Why Is It So Important?
Gratitude has been found to be beneficially associated with social wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, and psychological wellbeing (Jans-Beken et al., 2020). It is no surprise that trait gratitude is an important "predictor of wellbeing and other desirable life outcomes" (Portocarrero et al., 2020, p. 6).
Thankful: Meaning of Life Free Essay Example
Essay Sample: We all have a lot in our lives for which we should be thanks for. In our daily life, we often receive help from those who around us, such as our parents, ... or holding the door for you. We should be thankful to people around us for things they have done for us. And we all should thankful for everything we have gotten. Don't use ...
Free Essay: Things I Am Thankful for
One of the things I am thankful for are my parents because without them I would not be where I am today. My thanks build off of being able to say yes I did this and that but I agree with many opportunities given to me as I pass many obstacles. Another thing I am thankful for are my abilities to listen, learn, and accomplish.

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Common Application Essay Option 4—Gratitude

The Importance of Gratitude and Kindness

Breaking Down the Essay Prompt

"Reflect"

"Something" and "Someone"

"Surprising"

"Gratitude"

"Affected" and "Motivated"

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A Final Note for Common Application Option #4

15 Fabulous Gratitude Writing Prompts

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings…

#1 Describe your favorite moment of the day.

#2 Describe your favorite person and list all of that person’s good qualities.

#3 Write about a random act of kindness from another person.

#4 Write about something that cheers you up when you feel down.

#5 List 5 things you are grateful for today.

#6 Remember a success you had and write a thank-you speech describing who helped you reach it.

#7 Write about a favorite hobby.

#8 Write about something you are grateful for with your work or personal life.

#9 Write about something you accomplished today, and how you feel now .

#10 Write about something someone else did to make you happy.

#11 Write about something you did to make someone happy today.

#12 Write about a pet and what makes him/her special.

#13 One of the best experiences of my life was… I am grateful for that experience because…

#14 List at least 10 things you like about yourself. Write a journal entry for each of those things.

#15 Write about something good you saw in your community.

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