The world, always filled with troubles, seems especially darkened this year in the wake of shocking terroristic attacks and the looming fear of ever deepening political crises.
It’s hard to disparage a holiday that brings people such simple enjoyment. But could it be considered naive, at least at this dismal point in history, for Americans to devote a whole day to expressing thankfulness for the world in which they live?
Even the most optimistic must acknowledge that gratitude is a virtue in short supply when so much attention has trained on tragic suffering and the fear of further violence and war.
But that is the very time when refocusing attention on what is right in the world is most crucial.
Start with the most practical application of that ideal: Those who do the work of helping the victims of misfortune are deserving of gratitude and support. The nongovernmental organizations providing humanitarian aid to the refugees fleeing the Syrian battleground perhaps are top of mind with current events, but that’s only one example.
Charities large and small are there to marshal humanity’s best impulses, and that is something for which we all can feel thankful. Supporting their work, financially or through volunteerism, is the best way to express that, and to sustain the effort.
People who dismiss such concepts as hazy ideals are ignoring current findings that the act of giving thanks is empowering in itself.
And yes, there’s science on this point. Robert Emmons, a psychologist and researcher at the University of California at Davis, has headed a long series of studies on gratitude and the quality of life.
In an overview of this research published in 2012, Emmons found ”considerable evidence that gratitude builds social resources by strengthening relationships and promoting prosocial actions.”
Emmons has measured various wellness indicators among people who kept weekly “gratitude journals” and found them healthier and happier about their lives as a whole, compared with those who recorded hassles or neutral life events. Further, a group that maintained gratitude lists tended to report more progress toward important personal goals, according to his university website (emmons.faculty.ucdavis.edu).
The Raby Institute for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern University has published similar findings, including an article by its clinical psychologist Susan Duma.
“Gratitude,” she wrote, “is not the same as simply thinking positively. Data shows that when people feel grateful, they are not free of anxiety, tension, or unhappiness.
“Rather, when faced with adversity, gratitude helps us take in the negative and the positive of a situation, recognize the big picture, and get less impeded by the obstacles,” she wrote. “This is not easy. But it works.”
Gratitude changes attitudes, as it’s often said, and even if it can’t dispel the evil that pervades humanity, adopting a thankful outlook can strengthen the resolve and resilience of those who are contending with it.
Besides, it simply feels uplifting to keep what’s good close at hand. That goes for good food, friends and family, all of which come together in what has to be America’s most heart-warming holiday. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
