{"id":282,"date":"2013-12-06T15:11:41","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T20:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sallybsedgwick.com\/conversation\/?p=282"},"modified":"2013-12-06T15:14:23","modified_gmt":"2013-12-06T20:14:23","slug":"give-thanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/give-thanks\/","title":{"rendered":"Give Thanks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Harvest<\/a>As we gathered for our final committee meeting, we mainly gave thanks for not having killed each other. It had been a long and frustrating process that, in the end, somehow worked out as had been hoped. So this meeting over food and wine still prompted me to ask, \u201cFor what are you thankful?\u201d Besides gratitude that we had not killed each other, we were also thankful for the amazing fact that we were still talking to one another. In the two-plus years the project had lasted, one of us had learned to let go of his need to always be right, which he said was his cause of thanksgiving. Another had found a group where he really could voice his opinion. All of us were amazed that the members of the group were now friends, even after coming to know each other in almost embarrassing ways.\u00a0 And there was, of course, our thankfulness that the project was over and the result looked promising. And it was enough.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a trend on the Internet, maybe particularly on Facebook, to post a daily gratitude such as that a friend came to visit or a new office had opened. For Thanksgiving Day, 2013, Spirit Moxie asked people to list three things for which they were grateful. The responses included the love of a good woman, wonderful and patient friends, family, technology, and \u201cthe magical effects of yeast and grapes.\u201d What\u2019s interesting about this is that it has been shown that gratitude, giving thanks, can actually hard wire the brain to be more positive and more productive. Thanks makes our minds work more easily.<\/p>\n

Why might this be true and what difference does it make? If you become positive in the present rather than feel happy only as a response to some event, such as a raise or a compliment, you are actually more productive and successful. In other words, it\u2019s been proven that happiness leads to success rather than vice versa. When you are positive in the present, you are not dependent on events for your happiness. While the importance of gratitude is prevalent right now as a conversation, one way to see why this matters is by watching Shawn Achor\u2019s TED talk<\/a>, \u00a0which is one of the funniest and clearest defenses of how this works. According to his research you can rewire your brain through 21 days of two-minute exercises: thinking of three new things you\u2019re grateful for or journaling for two minutes about one or exercising or meditating or sending a random positive email to someone. (No, you don\u2019t need to do all every day. From what I read you just pick one a day, and they can be different ones.)<\/p>\n

Happiness first, leading to a more effective life for us and, as a result, for those around us.<\/p>\n

But what about just saying thank you? What about that automatic response when someone does something for us, hands us something, tells us something, or opens a door<\/a>? The prod we give young children (\u201cSay thank you!\u201d) when someone gives them a candy bar or a dollar. The words most of us actually recognize in multiple languages. Gracias [Spanish]. Danke [German]. Merci [French]. \u0e02\u0e2d\u0e1a\u0e04\u0e38\u0e13\u0e04\u0e48\u0e30 kob khun ka\u00a0[Thai]. [ASL<\/a>]<\/p>\n