Celebration is, quite simply, the way we express gratitude.  It's gratitude in action.  

In the words of the psychologist Abraham Maslow, we "appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy."

Here are some fundamental truths about celebration and its power:

Celebration wells up from a sense of gratitude, a state that has been intensively studied for its health benefits.  Within just a few weeks of keeping daily journals, for instance, individuals across all walks of life, even the chronically ill, find themselves happier, more optimistic, sleeping better, and feeling more connected to others.  In addition, new research shows that gratitude can help us through extremely difficult situations, such as caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer's.  It can also inspire us to profound giving -- such as donating organs to save the lives of strangers -- according to a new study out from IRUL. 

Celebration creates a circle of love.  When we rejoice in the presence of others, they feel uplifted.  Research has shown that one act of gratitude encourages another, creating a circle of reciprocal love.

Celebration moves us from fear to faith.  Studies show that the most grateful individuals have often been through difficult and challenging experiences.  Individuals who have overcome adversity in youth are more optimistic and grateful than the average person.  Research with hurricane survivors suggests that feeling grateful is one of the predominant emotions people feel in the aftermath of a natural disaster.  Interviewing thirteen parents who lived in Florida at the time of Hurricane Andrew (1992), the researchers discovered that one of their strongest emotions was an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what they had not lost.  The homes of five of these families had been destroyed, but none of them had lost a loved one.

Celebration shifts us from tired to inspired.  "We need to remind ourselves of how good life really is," says the psychologist Philip Watkins of Eastern Washington University.  Recent research shows that emotions work at lightning speed and often bypass reasoning, activating more ancient parts of the "emotional" brain.  By cultivating gratitude, we encourage positive feelings that are almost instantaneous.  They are more powerful, in their own way, than positive thoughts.

Last updated on April 16, 2010 by getavision admin