Americans more than any other people in the history of the world have reason to be grateful. We enjoy freedoms unknown to the vast majority of the human family. We have championed technological success into the world that was scarcely imaginable 100 years ago. In 5th grade my son was the only child in his class without a mobile phone, and not just any mobile phone – a phone that could take high quality pictures and video, had internet access and built-in games, and played music. All four of my children have been on a plane and flown thousands of miles for no other reason than entertainment. Now, I know my experience isn’t common to everyone, but even the poor in America live more abundant lives than the poor in most other countries. We are living longer and spend more of our time enjoying luxuries than ever before. Are we grateful?

The reason this question is so important is because gratitude is the cornerstone to happiness. Generally speaking, people who are not grateful are less happy than people who are grateful. This principle is challenging to teach, especially to children. My son often made the argument that although he was angry and arguing about our restrictions on internet usage doesn’t mean he isn’t grateful for the meal he had a few minutes prior. I, of course, disagreed. I tried to explain it to him this way. A person can either be happy because of all the things he/she has (i.e. being grateful) or he/she can be angry because of things which he/she doesn’t have (i.e. ungrateful). One cannot be both at the same time.

I also explained that being grateful does not mean you cannot desire additional things. You can, and it is the spirit of America to desire more. This country and all of it’s peoples amazing achievements were dependant on man’s desire for better things. There is, however, a vast and supremely important difference between allowing that desire to generate positive feelings of motivation to achieve (while being grateful for what you do have) versus allowing it to embitter you with anger at your victimhood of misfortune (mentally casting aside all that you have and focusing on those things which you lack).

As Dennis Prager has often explained it: there is a big difference between being generally unhappy about life and being dissatisfied with something in our lives. We should not expect to be satisfied with everything in life. This is unrealistic. We can be dissatisfied with aspects of our employment, or relationships, the current state of our garage which is in disarray while at the same time being grateful we have employment at all, and a garage to store some of our possessions. We can compartmentalize our dissatisfaction and keep it restrained to a specific thing and not allow it to become corrosive and all encompassing to everything else in our lives – thereby destroying our happiness.

I will end with a few quotes on gratitude for your consideration:

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it – William Arthur Ward

When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears – Anthony Robbins

Gratitude helps you grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you – Eileen Caddy

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls – Aesop

Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy – Jacques Maritain