To live a happy life, you need to practice being grateful. We all have people in our lives who we would do anything for, people we sacrifice for. We also have people in our lives that sacrifice for us, although we don't always acknowledge their hard work. Here are some reasons on why I think it is truly important to be grateful to people who go out of their way for you:
It is important to be grateful for what others have done for you so you know how to make better connections with people. If someone is ungrateful for what others have done for them they will never learn how to make meaningful connections with others. People will start to view you as a person who only cares about your own needs.
Being grateful also prevents you from becoming egotistical. Someone who is ungrateful will develop the mindset that they can do everything by themselves and that they do not need others. In addition, people who are egoistic tend to be controlling and deceiving.
Some psychologists argue that a person who is grateful is less negative. They accept that everything happens for a reason and praise others/circumstances that have good outcomes. Many studies have proven this because people who are grateful tend to have a positive mindset. For example, in an article by Elizabeth Hopper she says that "In a 2007 study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, psychologist Alex Wood and his colleagues asked 236 undergraduate students to report on how grateful they felt and how they generally coped with stressful events. The researchers found that more grateful people were more likely to take steps to actively deal with their problems compared to less grateful people" (https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_gratitude_helps_you_with_difficult_feelings ). This is quite interesting because it emphasizes the fact that people who tend to be more grateful are better able to solve problems and view things in a more positive mindset. People who are not grateful tend to give up more easily and have a more negative mindset.
Additionally, one study done by a group of researchers states that "teenagers and adults who feel grateful more often than others are also happier, get better grades, and have better friendships.They also sleep better, have more energy, and have fewer illnesses and less pain" (https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00055#ref1). This study shows that a grateful person will be both physically and mentally more happy and healthy in life than someone who is not grateful.
Ultimately it is important to learn the art of being grateful. The next time someone does something important for you, take the time to thank them in a meaningful way and learn how to accept the people in your life who truly want you to succeed and want to see you be happy. It is hard to find people in life who will go out of their way to help you but when they are a part of your life, make sure you take the time to recognize that you are truly grateful!
