Gratitude: The Parent of All Virtues
/By Shelley Murasko
It’s easy to feel some days that our generation is worse off than those before. I find this to be especially true when spending time scanning the news of the day. Recent articles on page one of the Wall Street Journal have consistently featured topics of a negative nature. Check out these headlines:
· U.S. Concerns Over Rafah Invasion
· U.S. Probes Role of Ford’s Assisted-Driving Technology in Fatal Crash
· Ailing EV Maker Fisker to Pause Production for Six Weeks
The irony of all this negativity is that we are living in pretty good times. Look at this chart detailing household wealth in the 1950s compared to 2022.1
In addition to data like this, we can also gain perspective from our elders. Look no further than 90-year-old Warren Buffett. In a 2022 interview, Buffett stated:
"A greater percentage of the American population are wealthy now or have more income now than they've ever had." He pointed to indicators such as Bank of America's average deposit figures to underline this trend, suggesting that while not everyone is wealthy, "people here have more money now."
"The bottom 2% in terms of income in the United States, the bottom 5%, and for sure the top 1% all live better than John D. Rockefeller was living when I was six years old. John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world." Buffet also emphasized the improvements in medicine, education, entertainment, and transportation, arguing that these aspects of life are now better than ever before.
In addition, global statistics in three key areas are on the rise:
· GDP Growth. Today’s Global GDP is now five times the size of the Global GDP in 1990, growing from $22.2 trillion to $101 trillion.2
· Poverty Levels. In 1820, 90% of the world population lived in extreme poverty compared with 10% in 2021.3
· Literacy Rates. From 1950 to 2020, the literate population of the world has increased from 56% to 87%.4
By many measures, the human condition and the financial state of the world’s population are on the rise. With so many signs of progress, there are many people who accept the notion of abundance and focus on all they have. Yet, for many Americans, the amount in their bank accounts is never enough.
So, how can you move from a place of want to a place of gratitude? There are many answers to this puzzle. Here are a few thoughts to ponder:
· Overcoming Advertising’s Mental Toll. In today’s world, we face a constant barrage of ads that point out our inadequacies. During the pre-internet decades, the average person might have seen, at most, 100 ads a day. In 2007, market research firm Yankelovich ran a survey of 4,110 people and found that an average person saw 5,000 ads every day. It has since skyrocketed to 10,000 ads.6 With so many reminders of what we don’t have or what we’re not, it’s easy to feel like we’re lacking. However, you can overcome this feeling by making gratitude a daily habit.
· Avoiding Negativity Bias. This is a tendency to focus on negative information far more than positive information. All humans have this psychological trait, which often gets in the way of gratitude.
The reason for negativity bias comes down to consequences. For example, positive feedback on your annual review is nice, but nothing will happen if you ignore it. On the other hand, ignoring criticism might lead to you being fired. About 2,000 years ago, ignoring feedback could have gotten you cast out of your tribe, which was your lifeline in a dangerous world.
Therefore, having a negativity bias might be a good way to stay alive, but it’s generally a distortion of the world around you. For instance, you could be sitting in first class on a flight to Paris and yet be annoyed that your coffee is cold. When you learn to appreciate the good things in your life, you’ll begin to see the bounty that surrounds you.
· Practicing the Gratitude Technique. According to Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard University’s “Happiness” class instructor and co-author of Build the Life You Want with Oprah Winfrey, “The single best way to grasp the reality of good things in life and turn down the noise that makes real threats hard to distinguish from petty ones is to occupy some of the negative emotion receptors with a different, positive feeling. The most effective of these positive feelings is gratitude.”
Brooks goes on to explain that it’s possible to bring more gratitude to your life. According to his research, the best way is to become more aware of all the good in your life by taking time to reflect.
In his book, Brooks teaches a Gratitude Technique that includes the following aspects:
1. Daily sentence. Before getting out of bed in the morning, recite a sentence to frame the day. His example is Psalm 118:24: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” If you prefer a less religious tone, try this simple affirmation: “Thank you for this day!”
2. Gratitude list. Maintain a gratitude list that you update once a week. You could tape it to the bottom of your computer screen and glance at it each morning before you start work, pausing briefly on each item.
3. Two communications. Make a routine of your outward gratitude by sending two daily emails or texts to someone before you get to work. You don’t need anything long-winded or dramatic, just a few words showing someone that you noticed something nice they did and appreciated it. On the days you aren’t feeling like sending your two thank-you messages? Make it three instead.
4. Gratitude mantra. Write or adopt a gratitude prayer or mantra that you can say throughout the day, especially at trying moments. Maybe it could be “Thank you for my life,” which can work wonders when sad or afraid.
As Brooks affirmed, “If you commit to a ‘Gratitude’ regimen, your life will change. You won’t feel grateful at every second (you are still human), but gratitude will become a fixed point around which you live your life. And that will make you a stronger, happier person.”
When taking a moment to reflect upon the benefits of today’s technology, medicine, consumer goods, and entertainment accessibility, it seems obvious that we live in better times. One major key to bringing gratitude into your life is taking the time to notice.
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
– Marcus Tullius Cicero
Sources:
1. Moore, Steven and Julian L. Simon. (Dec. 31, 2022). “It’s Getting Better All the Time: 100 Greatest Trends of the Last 100 Years.” Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Statistical Abstract of the United States, International Labor Organization, United Nations, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Latest data available. For illustrative purposes only.
2. Retrieved from Invesco’s “Compelling Wealth Management Conversations Guidebook” -found here, Compelling wealth management conversations | Invesco US World Bank. (Dec. 31, 2023). Gross domestic product (GDP) is a broad indicator of a region’s economic activity, measuring the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced in that region over a specified time period.
3. Retrieved from Invesco’s “Compelling Wealth Management Conversations Guidebook” -found here, Compelling wealth management conversations | Invesco US World Bank. (2021). Extreme poverty is defined as living at consumption (or income) level below 1.90 “international $” per day. International dollars are adjusted for price differences between countries and inflation. Latest data available. For illustrative purposes only. Retrieved from ourworldindata.org.
4. Retrieved from Invesco’s “Compelling Wealth Management Conversations Guidebook” -found here, Compelling wealth management conversations | Invesco US Middle class data - OECD and UNESCO. (Dec. 31, 2020). Middle-class refers to households with income between 75% and 200% of the median national income. Population data - World Bank: Health Nutrition and Population Statistics. Forecasts may not be achieved. There is no guarantee the outlook mentioned will come to pass. Latest data available. For illustrative purposes only.
5. Jowarth, Josh. (Dec. 4, 2023). Time Spent Using Smartphones (2024 Statistics). Retrieved from explodingtopics.com on 3/18/2024.
6. Nadia. (Feb. 10, 2024). “How Many Ads Do We See a Day?” Retrieved from siteefy.com on 3/18/2024.
7. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Table 1. Time spent in primary activities and percent of the civilian population engaging in each activity, averages per day by sex, 2022 annual averages - 2022 A01 Results. Retrieved from bls.gov on 3/18/2024.
