The ARC of Living Gratefully
“Contemporary science is catching up with ancient wisdom. Gratitude research increasingly confirms that gratefulness is good for our physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being. Dr. Robert Emmons sums up a quarter-century of groundbreaking gratitude research with this catchy acronym: ARC. He reports that dozens of studies have come to the same three conclusions: Gratitude AMPLIFIES the good, RESCUES us from negativity bias, and CONNECTS us to one another, mending the social fabric. Discover these benefits and more.
Gratitude Research from Grateful Living (grateful.org)
When I began my own gratitude practice with my first gratitude journal in early 1996, there wasn’t a ton of research available to those who may have needed some evidence that grateful living works. If my new practice had been an experiment I was conducting, and in a way it was, it proved effective in the first months. A recovering alcoholic prone to self-pity and that negativity bias mentioned above, I began to see myself and the world and people around me differently. Eye-opening. Heart-opening. Soul-opening. Amplifying the good. I am here and breathing. That’s a pretty significant start.
Living gratefully, and the ways I incorporate it into my life, relationships, writing, speaking, job, and more has evolved and will continue to do so. It doesn’t protect me from life’s challenges. No one is immune to loss, changes, impatience, frustration, health concerns, and uncertainty. What it does do is create good energy and light a path forward, moment by moment, day by day. Living gratefully keeps relationships strong and also helps me see my responsibility as a human being on this planet.
My commitment to living gratefully ebbs and flows, but it never dries up and withers away. It has been the most transformative and best overall strategy for my overall wellbeing for more than thirty years. I’m a case study in the effectiveness of grateful living. I encourage you to start your own experiment, or at least read the sizable and conclusive evidence that is now available, thanks to the work of Dr. Emmons and many others.
Take a deeper dive into how one of the foremost researchers in the psychology of gratitude started studying gratitude and how ARC was revealed in the research–once very lacking, now proven.
Robert Emmons on the Story of Gratitude
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers numerous definitions for the word arc, and this one fits our discussion here:
arc-a continuous progression or line of development
That is what grateful living is for me. It clarifies priorities so I know where to put my time and energy. It continues to grow and deepen. It protects me from myself on tough days, and opens me to a wider world and the people in it on other days.
Amplify the good—the beauty of an amazing hibiscus blossom. Rescue ourselves from the pile of concerns in our world waiting to pull us into a doom scroll. Connect with our own hearts, loved ones, the natural world in fresh ways. Today is a gift, full of opportunities. Onward!
