What is gratitude?

Gratitude is “a positive state of mind evoked by focusing on and appreciating the good in one’s life,” explains Erin Wiley, M.A., L.P.C.C., a licensed clinical psychotherapist and executive director of The Willow Center. “It is being conscientious about living in a state of thankfulness.”But gratitude goes beyond just recognizing the good in your life—it also entails acknowledging that the good comes from factors outside of yourself, says Mary Ann Little, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and author of the forthcoming book Childhood Narcissism: Strategies to Raise Unselfish, Unentitled, and Empathetic Children. “Gratitude works to encourage recognition of the sources of goodness as being outside of the self,” she explains. “This requires an appreciation for the contributions of others and external events. In this way, it is an unselfish practice, as the focus of gratitude is on the world around us, on both people and activities—externalities—that are not ourselves.”