When looking for a way to improve one’s happiness in life, it’s important to understand the importance of gratitude. It is through gratitude that a person can find much appreciation and thankfulness for both the little and big things in life. From one’s family to one’s career to one’s home, there is so much to be thankful for.

If a person lives a life where everything is taken for granted, there’s a good chance that the person isn’t showing gratitude. As a result, this person will likely endure episodes of unhappiness as well as suffer from relationship problems with other people.

Why does showing gratitude go hand in hand with being happy? Let’s take a quick look.

Gratitude and Compliments Make a Person Feel Better

First of all, people want to feel appreciated in life. When a person shows gratitude toward a person, this makes that person feel appreciated. As a result, the person showing gratitude gets to feel happy about making the other person feel happy. It’s a win-win situation for both people involved. Just as important as it is for a person to compliment other people and show them gratitude, when compliments are given, it’s imperative to show gratitude for the nice things that were said.

Spiritually Healthy People Tend to Be Happier

Secondly, showing gratitude is part of being spiritually healthy. No matter the religion being followed or the type of faith that a person has, there is nothing more in this life that satisfies a person’s spiritual soul like gratitude.

Studies Show Gratitude Leads to Enhanced Happiness

When it comes to research, there have been studies that point directly to the correlation betweengratitude and a happier life. One such study had participants keep a weekly journal about the things they were grateful for. The other participants were asked to keep a daily journal. For those that kept the daily journal, an increase in happiness and gratitude were noticed far more than in the people who only kept the weekly journal.

Ways to Show Gratitude

It’s clear to see that happiness and gratitude go hand in hand with one another. Fortunately, this observation can be quite useful within marriages that are suffering problems. In fact, any marriage that takes to heart the importance of gratitude will likely be happier. Best of all, it’s fairly simple to showgratitude.

Keep a Journal

Journaling does a lot for a person’s mental well-being, and this is especially true when it comes to keeping a gratitude journal. If possible, a person should try to jot down at least one to five things everyday that he or she is happy for. At the end of the week, these things should be shared with a spouse.

Make Sure to Give Compliments

Compliments are an essential part of showing gratitude. No matter who the compliments are given to, the person giving them is going to benefit as well as the person receiving them. Families will do well to take at least one day out of the week at the dinner table in which everyone says a compliment toward everyone else.

The Take Away

Showing gratitude isn’t hard. It simply means being thankful for the good things in life and showing this thankfulness through positive behaviors. Anyone looking to improve their marriage will greatly benefit from showing gratitude toward one another.