I love this holiday! It’s inclusive, family-oriented, and a time to get over ourselves and give thanks. “Thanks” should not be a once-a-year practice; it should be something incorporated into your language, actions, and deeds all year long.
Gratitude can be taught and we can live it by example. It’s even healthy for us and may counterbalance the damaging health effects of our overindulgence all year long, especially at Thanksgiving. I’m being facetious, but if we can extend the “thankful” part of our lives beyond “turkey day.” We may be happier, less stressed, and around to see many more turkey days with our loved ones.
Put On A Happy Face
WebMD has reported on the findings from Robert Emmons, University of California Davis Psychology Professor, who said, “Throughout history, philosophers and religious leaders have extolled gratitude as a virtue integral to health and well-being. Now, through a recent movement called positive psychology, mental health professionals are taking a close look at how virtues such as gratitude can benefit our health. And they are reaping positive results… Grateful people take better care of themselves and engage in more protective health behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, [and] regular physical examinations.”
Without beating this assumption to death, lack of “gratitude” can lead to creating stress; anxiety can be evidenced at work by reduced productivity, safety concerns, poor morale, and absenteeism. This is not a new phenomenon. Circadian, in a 2005 study called, “Absenteeism: The Bottom-Line Killer,” reported that as early as the beginning of this Century, absenteeism carries with it high financial impact. “Unscheduled absenteeism is a chronic problem for U.S. employers, conservatively costing $3,600 per hourly employee per year and $2,650 per salaried employee per year.”
Gratitude research is suggesting that feelings of thankfulness have a positive value in helping people cope with daily stressors at home and at work. We know that stress can make us sick, really sick. Stress is linked with heart disease and cancer. Think about it. If you are grateful, you are probably more optimistic and that is a “… characteristic that researchers say boosts the immune system.” A report from The University of Queensland in Australia also supports the findings that, “A positive attitude can improve your immune system and may help you live longer.”
How To Teach Gratitude
Here is the trick. No one is born grateful. It is something that has to be taught and, in turn, learned. As parents, we are often frustrated with our kids and feel that no matter what our kids get, it’s never enough. As Frank A. Clark, noted politician born in 1860 put it, “If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.” We want to nip that behavior in the bud when we see it in our kids; otherwise, it may result in a lifetime of disappointment.
Parents.com notes that, “Gratitude is one of the trickiest concepts to teach toddlers and preschoolers -- who are by nature self-centered -- but one of the most important.” When you can teach your kids gratitude, they will become more sensitive to the feelings of others and begin to learn the important life skill of really listening and becoming empathetic to others. These skills will be later brought into the workplace. Grateful people are better employees, leaders, partners… I could go on.
For smaller children, start with a simple “Please” and “Thank You” and explain how hard it was for the person to do what they had done, or how thoughtful, etc. Weave the gratitude conversation into your daily conversations. It may be as simple as saying how grateful you are to have your pet or food or your warm house. Many people aren’t so lucky.
For older children, let them really see how grateful they should be. Gratitude is a two-way street. Take them to a soup kitchen to feed less fortunate folks a meal, or read to blind kids or kids who have cancer. Encourage them to donate toys and books to organizations. These are things of theirs, and their caring can bring joy to others, who will show gratitude. You are allowing your kids to experience gratitude and are allowing them to feel gratitude. Talk about how they felt after you get home.
Take a few hours on Thanksgiving Day and make it a tradition to go into the local soup kitchen or hospital. Or, you can work with kids to donate via one of my favorite charities. AmpYourGood has disrupted the conventional food drive concept. Instead of asking people to search their food cabinets for potentially outdated packaged foods that they want to donate to shelters, AmpYourGood makes it easy to donate fresh and real food by going online to do what Patrick O’Neill, CEO has coined, “Crowd-Feeding.” AmpYourGood can deliver fresh, organic food to the shelters your designate or you and your kids can participate with others in a number of food drives immediately addressing people having great hunger needs.
Workplace Gratitude
This seems a daunting task. It really isn’t. It just has to be real. It is not having your employees clasp hands to sing Kumbaya every Friday, or play ping-pong in the lunch room. Your organization needs to reflect real values, creating a new and shared culture, transparency, work-life balance, career development, diversity, inclusion… basically, a place where people want to work, grow and share.
In other words, be the corporation where you, as leadership want to work. A Deloitte study entitled, “Global Human Capital Trends 2016, The new organization: Different by design”, highlights how this new way of designing your business will create a more cohesive organization that will lower stress and frankly be a place at which people are actually grateful to come to work.
So, “Happy Thanksgiving.” Now you can clasp hands and sing Kumbaya! Go around the table and ask everyone to say what they are thankful for and start that daily tradition, now. And, remember the words of John F. Kennedy, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”
