Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Dr Kerry Howells, Major Street Publishing, $29.95.
The significance of gratitude has far-reaching outcomes. Here is a practical guide to untangling difficult relationships, letting go of resentment and ultimately leading a happier life.
To overcome everyday resentments, award-winning educator Dr Kerry Howells encourages us to embrace gratitude as a step-by-step lifelong practise. Clinical studies have demonstrated the positive benefits of gratitude to our physical, emotional and social wellbeing. The thought leader also says it’s only when we experience the discomfort of not being able to find gratitude that a path opens for real growth and transformation.
Howells, who has spent over 25 years researching, teaching and practising gratitude, offers practical strategies to enable us to start to untangle difficult relationships, grow their resilience and ultimately lead a more fulfilling life.
We have all experienced resentment in our lives and they can keep simmering away, robbing us of joy and wreaking havoc on our health, relationships and workplaces. However, no matter how hard we try to let it go and be the ‘bigger person’, sometimes it’s impossible to express gratitude toward someone who has wronged us.
Dr Howells says: “One of the most important roles that gratitude can play in our lives is to illuminate where we feel the opposite: it’s often the only thing that can bring resentment to light so that we can do something about it and address its negative impact on our lives. If you have underlying resentment about someone, it’s impossible to genuinely express gratitude to them.”
It can be hard to make the first move when we feel another person has wronged us. “However, as I see it, this humble questioning prefaces a commitment to try to change, to try to repair the relationship, to take action rather than waiting around for the other person to change or apologise.”
