BLOG: Thanksgiving provides the power of gratitude

ByJohn D. Kelly IV, MD

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is my yearly reminder of the power of gratitude. Indeed, lost loved ones are remembered and the first few Thanksgivings without my father were bittersweet.

However, a mindset focused on all that one has, rather than what is missing, increases joy and may open one up to receive more.

Give thanks and re-wire your brain

Human brains are plastic; they can be re molded into either a negative or positive thought-generator. Negative emotions — fear, anger, jealously, depression and anxiety — are the result of neural circuits that become more “hard wired” every time a negative emotion is experienced. In short, the more one experiences negativity, the easier it is to become more naturally negative.

Conversely, positive emotions — joy, peace, happiness and gratitude — lower the threshold for more positivity to emerge. Simply stated, positive emotions beget more positive emotions.

Our frontal lobes and our “executive function” give all humans the ability to choose the things to which we direct our attention. We have a choice to either focus on all that is good in our lives or ruminate on all that is lacking.

We can blame our genetics, our formation, our life circumstances and even what happened 20 years ago to explain our unhappiness or we can decide to focus on all that is good in our lives and give thanks.

You can change the equation of your life

Noted author Steven Covey likens our response to any situation to a chemical formula. When one side of a chemical equation is changed (i.e., more reagent) the other side necessarily must change. That is, when we change our response to the circumstances on our lives, the stimuli (our life) will also change. When we adopt a positive and grateful disposition to all that is around us, the people, conditions and even perceived threats will change.

Gratitude and happiness

Happiness guru Martin Seligman, PhD, asked more than 400 subjects to deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had never been properly thanked for a prior act of kindness. Subjects noted a huge increase in happiness scores, with benefits lasting for a month.

The following are ways to cultivate gratitude:

Keep a gratitude journal and write three things to be grateful for each day.
Write a thank you note or email to someone who has helped you in the past every day.
Tell your significant other everyday all that you appreciate about him or her.
After every case, thank your team for their efforts. Perhaps there were some minor issues with performance, but remarks of gratitude will go a lot further in promoting excellence than criticism.
Hang a picture, as I have, of a citizen in an impoverished country. Your perspective will change dramatically. Insurance hassles pale in comparison to finding your next meal.

Some facts to consider whenever you feel your life is not rich:

If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are among the top 25% of the world’s wealthiest people.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and some spare change, you are in the top 8% of the world’s wealthiest people.
If you woke up this morning healthy, you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week.

In this time of Thanksgiving, we as orthopedic surgeons would do well to meditate on the profound privilege we have to mitigate suffering daily. We are indeed a blessed lot — we can positively affect the quality of lives like no other vocation and the surgery is fun!