Untertitel (42)
0:04So gratitude
is an incredibly potent virtue.
0:08What gratitude does is tells us
we are valued in relationship.
0:13And we see that when people feel genuine
gratitude, they indeed help others.
0:18And it binds us to each other.
0:21But when we practice gratitude,
the devil might be in the details.
0:25It's not just what are you grateful for?
0:28It's to whom are you grateful?
0:31We often express it to other humans,
0:33but we can also be grateful
to other entities, and in particular,
0:38many people around the world
express gratitude to God.
0:44Our research team was interested in
0:46whether gratitude, expressed
in the form of prayer to a deity,
0:52would differ from gratitude practiced
kind of as a self-help exercise,
0:57or expressing that gratitude
to another person.
1:02And so we randomly assigned
participants to one of these three conditions.
1:06And what we found
is that when people prayed,
1:10we see more health and
well-being benefits
1:13than the journaling the gratitude,
1:16or journaling and reading it
aloud to a person.
1:21We know this from other research
1:22that when people imbue
their goals or relationships
1:26with sacred meaning,
that they exert more effort
1:29and they benefit more
from those relationships.
1:34Some people might be wondering, well,
what if I don't believe in God?
1:37Well, you might also think
about the fact of existence.
1:41Or I'm grateful for the things
that are transcendent in my life.
1:48being connected to nature
is very effective in this way.
1:53If I see a beautiful sunset,
who do I thank?
1:56There's not a human
who made that sunset for me,
1:58but I can thank something
beyond the self.
2:02Gratitude is especially important
at this moment in history.
2:07In the United States, we have
a loneliness epidemic
2:11as declared by the Surgeon General.
2:13But expressing and feeling gratitude
2:16allows us to recognize
we're part of something bigger.
2:19And that feels a lot less lonely.
2:22It becomes expands and can transform
a relationship or a community.
2:29especially when practiced
in relation to God,
2:31is really a potent force for good.
2:36It really helps you take a step back
and see the bigger picture.
