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Did 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.
E-Book Content
THANKS!
BOOKS BY ROBERT
A.
EMMONS
The Psychology of Gratitude Words of Gratitude for Mind, Body, and Soul The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns Thanks!
THANI(S! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier
Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D.
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON
• NEW YORK
2007
Copyright © 2007 by Robert A. Emmons All rights reserved For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003. Visit our Web site: www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data Emmons, Robert A. Thanks! : how the new science of gratitude can make you happier / Robert Emmons. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-618-62019-7 ISBN-lO: 0-618-62019-2 1.
Gratitude.
I.
Title.
BF575.G68E46 2007 179'.9-dc22 2006030297 Printed in the United States of America MP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
CREDITS
Figure
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Source: Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade (20 05 ).
Reprinted by permission. Figure 3.1 on page 7 2: Copyright © 2001 Institute ofHeartMath. Reprinted by permission. Cartoon on page 100: Reprinted by permission from http://www.CartoonStock.com. " Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" on page 117: Copyright ©
20 02
Matt Redman. Reprinted with permission.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It's been said that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Closely following in third place is the certainty of debt. As humans, we are in debt. Not financial debt, though that is reality for many of us as well, but an emotional and personal debt to all those who have helped us on our journeys. From cradle to grave, we are in debt to the countless individuals who make us what we are and on whom we depend. Debts of gratitude are different from other kinds of debts, however, in that they are pleasant. This form of gratitude is a glad indebtedness. I am gladly indebted to a large number of persons who have helped make this book possible. Mike McCullough was my collaborator on the gratitude research project, and I owe him a special thanks. Mike has been a good friend and co-conspirator on various projects over the years, and without his expertise and encouragement little of the research in this book could have been conducted. A number of other students, colleagues, and mentors have made important contributions to the science of gratitude, including Barbara Fredrickson, Bob Roberts, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Charles Shelton, Chris Peterson, Dacher Keltner, Dan McAdams, David Myers, Jeffrey Froh,