What We Can Be Grateful For – The 8 Best Things

In the spring of 2020, our lives were turned upside down. You probably miss personal contact with family and friends. Maybe you have lost your sources of income or are very afraid of getting sick. Practising gratitude in these crazy times may seem impossible at first glance.

Gratitude is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean pretending that there are no problems in this world. Instead, we can take a step back and look at the big picture. What are the things we take for granted, even though some of them are major achievements that make our lives so much easier? A change in perspective can help you get through difficult times better.

Due to evolution, we humans tend to focus more on negative events than on positive ones. Millions of years ago, it was vital for survival to keep an eye out for danger. Remembering the good things and being grateful brought our ancestors no evolutionary advantages. [1] [1] Negativity sticks in memory more strongly: Blog, Phil Hanson Ph. D.: Take in the Good   But in your life, this ability can make a huge difference.

It is not the happy who are grateful. It is the grateful who are happy. – Francis Bacon

Gratitude motivates you to work toward your goals and to help other people. It strengthens your immune system and helps against stress. [2] [2] Gratitude has many positive effects: Robert Emmons/Greater Good Magazine (2013): Five Myths about Gratitude Here are eight examples of things and circumstances that are by no means taken for granted and for which you could feel grateful every day:

1. Freedom of opinion and information

If you lived in North Korea, you would probably have no access to the internet or reliable media. You wouldn't even have the opportunity to express your honest opinion.

Compare that with your own situation. You can watch controversial documentaries and read socially critical books. You have the right to complain about things you don't like and to publish opinions that contradict the government. You can join a demonstration and protest against the government. Elsewhere in the world, you could be arrested for this behaviour – or something even worse.

2. Four seasons

Complaining about "bad weather" and "constant rain" is practically a national sport in Germany. But would it really be that great if it were hot all year round? If Christmas markets were held in the height of summer? Every season brings changes that make our everyday lives more beautiful. In spring, it might be long walks in nature, in summer afternoons at the quarry lake, and in autumn carving pumpkins. And when do baked apples with vanilla sauce taste better than on a cold winter afternoon?

3. The healthcare system

Imagine what it was like to live in the Middle Ages: to get sick without access to modern medicine, clinics, and doctors. Sepsis and many other diseases that can be easily cured today were often a death sentence back then. Every birth was a major risk for mother and child. There were neither modern anaesthesia methods nor X-rays or vaccinations. 

In those times, if a pandemic broke out, it meant death for a large part of the population. Today, in Germany, we have the world's second-best public healthcare system. [3] [3] Germany ranks second among OECD countries after Japan: BDAE International Health Insurance (2019): These are the best healthcare systems in the world This has contributed to Germany having significantly fewer deaths from COVID-19 than many other countries. [4] [4] 100 days after the outbreak of Corona in Germany: Deutsche Welle (2020): How Corona changed Germany

4. Peace and security

Most of us can't even remotely imagine what it would be like to live in a war zone. We Western Europeans are very lucky to only know about wars from the news or from old documentaries. Many other people in the world are victims of destruction and armed violence. In 2019, there were 27 wars and armed conflicts worldwide [5] [5] Countries where wars or armed conflicts prevailed in 2019: Berghof Foundation (2019): Wars worldwide and currently over 70 million people are on the run. [6] [6] Where do most war refugees come from: UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe (2020): War refugees worldwide

Europe has also been devastated by wars again and again in the past. Today, at least in Western Europe, we have lived in peace for 75 years. That hasn't happened since the times of the ancient Romans. [7] [7] Peaceful times in Europe: Wikipedia (2020): Pax Europea

The most unjust peace is still better than the most just war. – Cicero

5. Access to clean drinking water

Even as children, we got used to water simply coming out of the tap when you turn it on. We get annoyed if the water is turned off for an hour. Elsewhere in the world, people have to walk miles every day to collect water.

Worldwide, 2.2 billion people have no access to clean drinking water. [8] [8] The water crisis is happening now: Tim Rohde/UNICEF (2020): World Water Day: 10 Facts about Water We are very lucky that our water is generally not contaminated with dangerous germs or arsenic, as is unfortunately still the case in many parts of the world.

6. Free access to school education

Imagine what it would be like if you could neither read, write nor calculate. How dependent you would be and how difficult it would be to change your life situation. School education, something completely taken for granted in Germany, is an invaluable luxury for many people around the world.

Even though many classrooms are online at the moment and learning at home is sometimes a bit chaotic, we can still be grateful for our free school system. 

Education can make you very happy and calm. – Günther Jauch

7. Time for yourself

We all know stress and overload. We often complain that we "never have time". But if we take a closer look, that doesn't quite match reality. The average German employee has 29 days of holiday. With public holidays and weekends, we get 42 days off per year [9] [9] Germans have quite a lot of time off: FAZ (2018): Almost 42 days off – even more depending on the state. Compare that with the USA, where there is no statutory entitlement to holiday days and an employee who can take ten days off can already consider themselves lucky. [10] [10] Hardly any paid time off in the USA: Zack Guzman/CNBC (2018): This chart shows how far behind America is in paid time off compared to the rest of the world

We quickly forget that time is relative. I can decide for myself whether to watch a TV series in the evening or do something that brings me closer to my personal goals. I can complain because I have to wait so long at the doctor's, or I can read an interesting book in that time. We can also use the time we involuntarily gained through the Corona measures productively by deliberately doing things that make us feel good.

8. The people in your life

Family members who offer financial support or step in for childcare. Nice neighbours who bring groceries to people who are not allowed out the door. Teachers who make sure that their students can continue learning even during Corona. Many people show solidarity in times of crisis and stand up for their fellow human beings. Maybe there are also people in your life whom you are particularly grateful for. When did you last tell them how important they are to you? A particularly nice gratitude exercise is to thank a nice person in a personal letter.

Many misunderstandings arise because gratitude is not expressed but only felt. – Ernst R. Hauschka

If we regularly remind ourselves what we can be grateful for, we are happier during the day and can sleep better at night. Gratitude has been shown to change your brain and helps you to go through everyday life more relaxed even in times of crisis. Even 2,000 years ago, the Roman philosopher Seneca said: "We suffer more in imagination than in reality". A study showed that only 15% of our worries actually come true, and of those, 80% can be solved much more easily than originally expected. It is not only optimistic but also realistic to see the glass as half full. Keep that in mind this week and go through your everyday life with well-founded optimism.

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This post is by Maria Röckmann. While studying journalism Down Under, she one day held a microphone up to a man's face, fell in love with him, and stayed there. When she's not roaming the playgrounds in Brisbane with her children, she writes for the 6-Minuten-Verlag or works on her first novel.

Sources:

[1] Negativity sticks in memory more strongly: Blog, Phil Hanson Ph. D.: Take in the Good

[2] Gratitude has many positive effects: Robert Emmons/Greater Good Magazine (2013): Five Myths about Gratitude

[3] Germany ranks second among OECD countries after Japan: BDAE International Health Insurance (2019): These are the best healthcare systems in the world

[4] 100 days after the outbreak of Corona in Germany: Deutsche Welle (2020): How Corona changed Germany

[5] Countries where wars or armed conflicts prevailed in 2019: Berghof Foundation (2019): Wars worldwide

[6] Where do most war refugees come from: UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe (2020): War refugees worldwide

[7] Peaceful times in Europe: Wikipedia (2020): Pax Europea

[8] The water crisis is happening now: Tim Rohde/UNICEF (2020): World Water Day: 10 Facts about Water

[9] Germans have quite a lot of time off: FAZ (2018): Almost 42 days off

[10] Hardly any paid time off in the USA: Zack Guzman/CNBC (2018): This chart shows how far behind America is in paid time off compared to the rest of the world