Product Description

There are times when gratitude comes over us as a wave, lifting us higher than we can normally stand, then setting us back down on our feet after bringing us closer to God, write Robert A. Emmons and Joanna Hill. At other times it is our companion during our darkest moments, causing us to be grateful for the good in the midst of tragedy, encouraging us to believe that good can come even when we cannot understand our own suffering or the suffering of others.

Words of Gratitude for Mind, Body, and Soul by Robert A. Emmons and Joanna Hill with an Introduction by Brother David Steindl-Rast offers words of encouragement and guidance, proverbs, and prayers, interspersed with highlights of recent psychological research measuring the effects of gratitude.

Why is it good to feel gratitude? Are there things we can do to pull ourselves out of a state of anger and loss? Can we choose gratitude? What are the hindrances to gratitude?

Clinical studies show that gratefulness tends to build and strengthen social bonds and friendship, while narcissism impedes the feeling of gratitude. Not only are those who practice gratitude happier, they are also healthier, exercise more frequently, and are more apt to be hopeful to others. Practicing gratitude does not buffer individuals from experiencing unpleasant emotional states.

“Gratitude is…more than a feeling, a virtue, or an experience; gratitude emerges as an attitude we can freely choose in order to create a better life for ourselves and for others,” explains Brother David Steindl-Rast. “The Nigerian Hausa put it this way: Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.” There is a paradoxical aspect to gratitude, Emmons and Hill point out: the more grateful we are, the more reasons we have to be grateful.

Lessons on cultivating gratitude come from most religious traditions. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, gratitude is an essential part of the religious experience. Psychologists are also looking at methods for helping people develop and experience gratitude. Emmons, who is professor psychology at the University of California, Davis explains several methods of cultivating gratitude, ranging from a conscious psychological tool; to a personal, creative path of self-expression; to a focused, spiritual practice, such as the Buddhist meditation technique, Naikan. And prayers can help people experience gratitude.

Feeling gratitude, we attract goodness and good people into our lives; our gratitude turns into action. “Count your blessings and you will find them to be countless, even in the midst of adversity and tragic circumstances,” says Brother David.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134876 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 112 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781890151553
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
This handy resource will spur you...to living a life of unimpeded thankfulness. -- SpiritualityandHealth.com, Winter 2002

About the Author
Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., is professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of more than sixty research articles and book chapters. His most recent book is The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns: Motivation and Spirituality in Personality.

Joanna Hill is working on a master’s degree in religious studies at the Theological School of the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. She is director of the Templeton Foundation Press.

Customer Reviews

I am very grateful for this beautiful book.
I stumbled across this beautiful, powerful book a while back while doing a paper for a counseling class. Reading this little book not only changed the topic of my paper to the power of gratitude, it has helped me in changing my own attitudes (the only things I really can change about myself) to being more grateful. I have discovered that there is no room for darkness, bitterness, jealousy, and resentment in a truly grateful heart. The question of a glass half full/half empty becomes moot when one looks at the multitude of blessings one has from having a glass with anything at all.

easy to read
I found this is a great first book about gratitude, easy to read. Put gratitude into good perspective.

A great gift book
Full of quotes and reminders of how to live greatfully.