How Does Gratitude for What You Have Make You Healthier?

The power of gratitude should never be underestimated.

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash

I’m currently reading a truly eye-opening nonfiction. Factfulness, by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, and Ola Rosling, is all about putting the matters of the world around you in perspective. Big matters, small, matters, you name it, they address it.

One key factor is that much of what you see in the news and online is distorted to fit specific narratives. Problems, especially, get blown out of proportion for both nefarious and altruistic reasons.

The primary message is to be more willing to do a little checking when given numbers, compare now to yesterday, and be more critical of how you judge the world overall.

For example — you’re reading this on either a tablet, phone, or computer. That you have such wondrous technology available to you puts you in the highest bracket of personal status in the world. Sure, you could have less debt, be richer, maybe better connected — but you have this technology at your fingertips.

Are you grateful for that?

Passively, you probably are. Similarly, you’re probably grateful for in-home plumbing, grocery stores stocked with out-of-season fruits and vegetables, and the odds of dying before…