This slideshow discusses the benefits of expressing gratitude

1. 7 BENEFITS TO EXPRESSING GRATITUDE
We often hear people talk about gratitude. For some, it’s no more
than a fluffy sentiment. For me, gratitude is a powerful tool. There
are many benefits to experiencing and expressing gratitude. I say,
you should always squeeze the lemon juice out of your lemons. We
all have lemons in our lives. We all have those bad events,
environments, or situations that are less than desirable, to say the
least. What is true, however, is that there is good in everything, just
as there is lemon juice in every lemon. We have all heard people
referencing the phrase, seeing things as a glass half empty or half
full. The fact of the matter is that sometimes we see the glass as
not half empty or half full. Sometimes we see it as mostly empty or
mainly full. Regardless of the situation, there is always a way to
identify the blessing in anything. I want to talk about seven
reasons why we should always express gratitude and be thankful.
Though, I am sure that there are far more than that. However, I am
going to discuss seven of them.

2. Firstly, gratitude is a gift that you give to yourself. When you are
thankful you put a smile on your face, because you are letting the joy
inside of you that is connected to the positive that you have received.
You can receive something positive but refuse the joy that can come
with it. People do it every day. Gratitude allows you to experience
that joy. For example, you can have a puppy that has accidents in your
house three times a day. You may experience misery from the puppy’s
accidents throughout your house as it gets trained. Or you may
exercise the power to focus on how cuddly, the puppy is, how loyal
the puppy is to you, or how the puppy warns you of danger. You may
experience joy thinking about the companionship and security that
the puppy provides. However, it is up to you to receive that joy. The
same applies to your personal relationships. You can appreciate your
spouse and be happy for the companionship that you receive. Or you
can only choose to focus on the dishes left in the sink. If you have a
loved one who is ill, you can focus on their sickness and their pain or
you can focus on the time that you have with them to say whatever
you want to say and hear from them whatever they want to say.

3. You can focus on the hugs that you can give them and the warmth
that you can provide for each other. Gratitude is a gift of Joy that you
choose to give to yourself.
The second reason for gratitude is the gift that you give to others.
When someone says “thank you” to you, it makes you feel a certain
way. It makes you feel appreciated and sometimes even loved. It
validates your actions. It rewards your efforts. That is a gift that you
can give to others.
The third reason for gratitude is to receive the lessons that gratitude
teaches you. In all bad things there are lessons. In all good things in
life, there are lessons as well. We usually only want the good things in
life. However, often times when we get the good things in life, we are
lazy about learning the lessons that come with them. Sometimes, it
takes the bad things for us to accept the lessons that we need to
learn.

4. Sometimes the bad things are the only ways that we can experience
the best joy possible. For example, when we miss a flight, and spend
the night in the airport hotel or even the airport itself, it helps us to
appreciate our homes that we often take for granted or our loved
ones that we see every day. Gratitude affords us the opportunity to
realize that it could have been worse.
The fourth reason for gratitude is to make the world a better place.
When you pass gratitude to others, they are your witness of how
beautiful that behavior is and they pass it on to someone else. It
creates a harmonious chain of love. You teach others how to show
love in a simple way. When you are around children, you teach
children how to show love in a simple way. Gratitude is one of the
easiest ways to reciprocate love and positive feelings.

5. The fifth reason why gratitude is so important is because it helps you
to smell the roses and enjoy life more deeply and more often. When
we appreciate what we have, we spend more time with it; we spend
more time with them. We stop and smell the beautiful roses in our
lives, whether the roses are actual roses made up of different colors,
red, yellow and white, or the roses metaphorically represent family
members and friends. We appreciate what is in sight; we spend more
time enjoying those roses and less time chasing after the wind.
The sixth reason why gratitude is so important is because it helps
us to get more in the future. The more we show our appreciation
for gifts that God gives us, the more gifts he wants to give to us.
Just as when someone you love shows appreciation for something
that you give, you want to give them more, because you know that
it makes them happy. So open your arms to more gifts by
expressing your gratitude to God today.

6. The seventh reason that we should express gratitude is because every
single breath that we take is a privilege. Not one month, one day, one
minute or second is promised to any of us. Just as we celebrate the
miracle of a baby being born, we should celebrate every breath that
we get to take on this earth. Every breath is a gift from God. We
should continuously thank God for the gift of each breath, because
we want to continue to receive the gift of breath, which is life.
Please show your gratitude every day. Start your day by giving God
thanks. This is the day that the Lord has made. We shall rejoice and
be glad in it (Psalm 118:24).