Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You HappierDid you know that there is a crucial component of happiness that is often overlooked? In the pages of this eminently readable book, Robert Emmons -- editor in chief of the Journal of Positive Psychology -- draws on the first major study of the subject of gratitude, of "wanting what we have," and shows that a systematic cultivation of this underexamined emotion can measurably change people's lives. Readers will discover how: - People who regularly practice grateful thinking can increase their "set-point" for happiness by as much as 25 percent. - Such increases can be sustained over a period of months -- challenging the previously held notion that our set-points for happiness are frozen at birth. - Keeping a gratitude journal for as little as three weeks results in better sleep and more energy. Emmons also reaches beyond science to bolster the case for gratitude by weaving in the writings of philosophers, novelists, and theologians. Like no other book has before, Thanks! inspires readers to embrace gratitude and all the benefits it can bring into our lives. |
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acknowledge American anger appreciation asked attitude Barbara Fredrickson behavior believe Ben Stein benefactor benefits Bicycle helmet Charles Shelton Chesterton circumstances coping Corrie ten Boom counting blessings daily depression Dietrich Bonhoeffer disease Emmons example experience express gratitude faith feel grateful feel gratitude friends G. K. Chesterton gift give thanks giver grace grati gratitude condition gratitude journals happen happiness hassles human Hurricane Katrina individuals ingratitude Journal of Personality Karl Barth less lives loss McCaugheys mood moral Naikan narcissistic negative ness pain parents participants patients Pentecostal perceived percent physical physician positive emotions positive psychology practice gratitude prayer received recipient relationship religion religious remember reminded response Retrieved sense set-point Severus Snape social someone spiritual stress suffering tears telomeres thanksgiving things thought tion tive tude ungrateful University week well-being words write wrote York