We all seek happiness and are drawn to the things we believe will make us happy. But sometimes, the things we desire fail to deliver.

Whether it’s a lotto payout, the dream job, the celebrity-style wedding, or the mega mansion in the best part of town, it often turns out that the things we think will make us happy, fail to satisfy us.

If things won’t make us happy, what will?

Numerous research projects have established a link between gratitude and happiness. While we might instinctively attribute happiness as the cause of gratitude (that is, ‘if I get lots, then I’ll have something to be grateful for’), the opposite was found to be the case. In other words, gratitude leads to happiness rather than the other way around.

But why does gratitude work? Here is our theory.

Gratitude implies a sense of indebtedness. We are grateful to someone because of some gift, kind deed, or advantage we received because of them. Therefore, we feel unexpectedly privileged and gifted beyond our entitlement.

In contrast, an attitude of entitlement sours any gift or advantage we might receive as simply to be ‘expected’. We justify to ourselves that we earned it or deserved it, and therefore not to have received it would be an injustice. Perhaps this is why entitled people are so grumpy! – they continuously feel that they are being unfairly treated, even when they are in fact treated equally or even privileged over others.

We see this dynamic playing out so clearly in marriage, including our own. Some of our most miserable days as a couple were when we let our sense of entitlement rule over our gratitude. Instead of delighting in and appreciating the giftedness of the other, we would be resentful that the other failed to meet our expectations. We would stubbornly refuse to adjust our expectations and would arrogantly justify our demands of the other.

That’s why one of the most effective strategies for couples is the simple practice of gratitude. Whether you keep a gratitude journal, meditate on your blessings, thank God daily for the gift of the other, or regularly voice your appreciation to each other, we’ve seen gratitude have a powerful impact on couples.

We remember coaching one couple who were really stuck. They had huge issues, no question, and they were really struggling to just be civil to each other. We gave them a gratitude assignment to write down five things a day that they appreciated in the other.

At the end of the week, we got them to read back over what they had written and take the pulse of their relationship – how did they feel towards the other compared to the beginning of the week?

The impact was dramatic. This couple had visibly softened towards each other. Their playfulness began to emerge, and we could see that they were building more positive energy into their relationship. They both reported more personal happiness.

Gratitude truly is a superfood for the soul and for relationships!

This New Year, consider gratitude gifts as an alternative to materialistic presents. You could write a letter thanking a family member, make an appreciation scroll, or commit to a Forty-Day Gratitude Challenge (forty days of daily appreciation). Visit SmartLoving for resources and ideas. There’s an old saying: count your blessings one by one – age-old wisdom that’s good for marriages, families, and individuals!

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Read the original article at SmartLoving. Image courtesy of Adobe.