Thanksgiving, like many other traditional celebrations, is a time to think about what we are grateful for. But you don't have to wait for a special day to spend a few minutes focusing on what you feel thankful for. Read more about gratitude and tell us what you think in the comments below. Thanks!
Gratitude
Were you taught to always say 'please' and 'thank you' when you were little? In many cultures, that's the polite thing to do.
But there's a big difference between simply saying 'thank you' and really feeling thankful.
What is gratitude?
Feeling thankful, or grateful, is called 'gratitude'. It's a positive feeling that comes from focusing on the good things in our lives. When we're grateful, we might feel warm, happy, lucky, calm, generous or full of love.
Gratitude can come naturally and with no planning. But research also shows that we can practise and develop our feelings of gratitude. This means making an effort to think about the things we have and feel lucky for.
We could be grateful for friends, family or other loved ones, nature, animals, food, a home or life in general.
The benefits of gratitude
Life is often hard. And when things are tough, it's easy to feel as if nothing ever goes right. But practising gratitude regularly helps us balance negative emotions with positive ones.
Research shows that practising gratitude helps us feel happier and build better social relationships.
Now it's your turn
Take a moment to think about these questions.
- Who is one person you're glad to have in your life and why?
- What enjoyable activity or moment have you experienced recently?
- What skill or personal quality do you feel grateful to have?
- Who or what has made you laugh or smile recently?
- What's one thing that you really appreciate about your home?
Now choose one thing that you are grateful for and tell us about it in the comments below. If it's an object, you can also share a picture of it. Remember to comment on other people's comments and pictures too!
* Pictures must be yours and must not include people who can be identified.
If you want to practise speaking, you can record your response using SpeakPipe voice recorder and post a link to the recording in your comment.
Go to SpeakPipe voice recorder
* Recordings are kept on a SpeakPipe server. Please don't include any music in your recording.
I am gratefully for being healthy and smile.
The most important part of my life is my family. We can offer each other positive thinking and we can smile.
As we know life is beautiful. Life provides a lot of best times. So, we need on the one hand to enjoy our self and the other hand to improve the society for the next generation.
Thank you
I am grateful for my family; my mother, my father and my sisters. They are like guardian angels for me.
Hello everyone,
I´m glad for the family I have, even though we live in different cities we are very close, I can always count on them. I´m also glad to have my friend Ben with me, he´s great, such a wise person, he´s taught me a lot, he´s 73 and I´m 37.
I´m grateful for been able to work with kids, I laugh a lot with them, they´re so special.
Puerto Vallarta is my home, I really appreciate that it´s still a safe place to live in, compared to other cities in Mexico, so for me, as a woman, that’s very important.
Rubí
Hi, I am grateful for being healthy. Also I'm married with a soulmate and have three children, two son and a daughter. We are happy and enjoy our life. Thanks to Allah. Have a great day, guys
the person that i glad to have in my life is velihan. cause whatever we experience he's always with me and I always feel him no matter where i go. I treated him like a sh*t in the past and I'm really regret for behaving like this to him. i feel sometimes like he is the first and the last person who love me. i really love him but sometimes its not enough to come together in relationships.
It's nice to hear about what everyone is grateful for on this page, and I'm struck by how we are all grateful for similar things -- I too am grateful for my wife, children, family and friends and my job and living situation.
Best wishes!
Kirk
LearnEnglish Team
I am really grateful for many things , first of all definitely the most important persons in my life is my dad , although I dont see him often , he write me every morning at 5 am and these message wake me up with a big smile.
My children are far a way the blessing of god , because they give me the reasons to work , became a better person and improve every day.
I am grateful for my healthy body and my capacity to give love to every one.
I'm a lucky man. Everything I have now is from God. I used to be a farmer at aged 21 and God made me become an English teacher at 25. I had great time with friends in the university who are very wonderful. I never thought of being a teacher before, but now I'm happy to teach children and bring knowledge to everyone.
I am grateful for my fiance
I'm grateful for family, my two daugters makes me smile.