Thank You Kindly!

How to show appreciation and change your relationships

- NAOMI BARR

AS WE HEAD INTO peak gratitude season, we're taking extra care to appreciate the ordinary but wonderful things around us-time with the fam, warm bread and melty butter, dogs wearing sweaters, etc. As the psychologists who study the topic remind us, feeling thankful benefits our bodies, minds, and spirits, rewarding us with feel-good hormones that can boost our health and happiness.

But gratitude's true superpower may be the way it brings people closer. This is why gratitude developed in the first place, evolutionarily speaking: Helping others and accepting help in return ensured our survival. Now gratitude is the social glue that holds us together, enabling us to "find, remind, and bind," according to a postulate embraced by current gratitude researchers, like Joel Wong, PhD, a professor of counseling psychology at Indiana University. "The idea is that gratitude helps us 'find'-notice and appreciate-someone we'd like to know better," he explains. "When we feel grateful for the people in our lives, we're 'reminded' of all their good qualities, which in turn 'binds' us to them, or draws the relationship closer." He and other experts believe that gratitude acts as a catalyst, leaving us less selfish, more caring, more socially engaged, and with a higher opinion of humanity.

With that in mind, we've compiled some wisdom on a few of the best ways to reap and sow the benefits of gratitude. We'd also like to say thank you, dear reader, for spending time with us. OK, on to the advice!

Thank Your Partner for All the Little Things