Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul.”

Amy Collette

There is an anonymous quote that says: “gratitude turns what we have into enough.” It’s a beautiful quote because it reinstates that what we have may not be a lot, but with a grateful mind, we can accept it and start seeing it as enough. It is saying thank you to our teachers, to people who serve us, to God for our lives, even when our lives are not going as planned. Gratitude is simply saying: “This is what I have, and I am thankful for it.”

Gratitude makes us better people. It increases our mental strength by reducing stress, helping us overcome past trauma and also helps us sleep better. Grateful people have high self-esteem. By being grateful to the people around you, you are less likely to compare yourself to them; if you are ungrateful, on other hand, you will resent people for having better opportunities, jobs, more money, etc. Gratitude makes us more empathetic individuals and reduces our chances of getting aggressive to the others around; it makes us more compassionate even when giving constructive criticism to others and less likely to seek revenge, should anyone hurt us. Because of this, grateful people are more likely to have better relationships with the people around them, than ungrateful people.
 
Health-wise, gratitude improves our physical and mental wellbeing. Grateful people are more likely to take care of themselves – be it exercising more or attending regular check-ups with their doctors. They are less likely to feel random pains and aches. Mentally, grateful people are less likely to bottle up toxic emotions – whether that is resentment towards other people, envy, or frustration. Because of this, grateful people are reported to be much happier, than ungrateful people.
 
At Noble Hall, we teach our learners to be grateful. We remind them of their privileges, the opportunities they have access to and teach them that that is a blessing, not a right. So they should always be grateful for the opportunities they have.