Reflect

In a world full of distractions, it’s easy to neglect the importance of reflection. Who can make time to really think when life is packed full or when there’s a remote control to reach for? But to live gratefully as a way of being depends on intentional reflection. Gratitude researchers talk about the difference between gratitude as a reaction to something good, which is transitory, versus “trait gratitude,” which is a sustained emotional state. And it turns out that reflection is the essential key to the latter. Without reflection, we can feel grateful for something, but we return quickly to whatever our baseline level of happiness is. In other words, it’s a fleeting state of affairs. Dr. Sarah Schnitker and Dr. Jo-Ann Tsang at Baylor University explain that “through intentional deep reflection of what we are grateful for” we can move past this cycle and “into a positive emotional state of gratitude.” We can live gratefully.