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The Strange Connections Between Happiness and Gratitude
Does it really matter which one comes first?
Let’s start with a question.
What comes first? Gratitude or Happiness?
Research shows that expressing gratitude for things that you have (or are working in your life) gives you a pleasant feeling, a serotonin boost. And one way of defining happiness includes a general state of positive emotions and life satisfaction.
But isn’t it also true that being happy makes us grateful?
Four months ago, I was mysteriously struck (not by the dreaded virus that is doing the rounds) by a bout of acute, excruciating pain in the lower half of my body. With only fifteen to go before the launch of my book, Rewriting My Happily Ever After, I was naturally terrified of all the things that still needed my attention and here I was, literally confined to my bed.
While walking and standing were understandably painful, I was unable to be at ease even while lying down. It was scary. The doctors and specialists did their thing — blood tests, x-rays, even an MRI. I left home only to meet medical or alternative therapy practitioners.
Not surprisingly, my joy at being so close to getting my book out into the world was…
