节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-11-28
难易度:Low
关键字:discourage, blessing, depression, satisfaction, optimism, contagious
Well, today we are talking about The Benefits of Being Thankful.
Are you a thankful person?
What are you thankful for?
It's important to think about the positive things in your life.
Especially with all the bad news that is around us every day, you want to think
about the good things, the blessings in your life.
And of course there are many benefits to being thankful.
We already talked about one.
If you're a thankful person, you will be kinder and feel more loved by others.
But there are more benefits.
Let's learn what those are now.
(Music).
The Benefits of Being Thankful.
Thankful people have higher levels of optimism.
People who practice gratitude can increase their happiness by 25 percent!
Grateful people have lower levels of depression and stress.
People who are grateful place a low value on material goods.
Therefore they don't waste their time and energy desiring what others have.
Thankful people express greater satisfaction in life and more hope for the
future.
The biggest benefit, though, is that a thankful attitude is contagious.
You might be surprised by how good it makes you and those around you feel!
(Music).
Well, being thankful does make you feel great, so.
Let's continue learning all about these benefits of being thankful.
Our next one here, thankful people have higher levels of optimism.
Now that is a big word there, the word optimism.
What does that mean, Gabe?
That means you usually see things in a positive way.
OK.
You are an optimist.
O-P-T-I-M-I-S-T.
Now the opposite, Carolyn, what's the opposite of optimism?
Well, that would be pessimism.
And that means that you think about things in a very negative way.
You always look at the bad points of things.
But if you are a thankful person, then you are more likely to be an optimist and
have lots of optimism to look at things... as the better part of the issue.
So you might say that, uh, the glass is half full, Gabe.
Hey, that's right.
That's a good phrase.
The glass is half full.
If you have a glass half full of water, a pessimist will think the glass is half
empty.
An optimist will say the glass is half full.
OK. Well, let's look at another benefit here.
People who practice gratitude can increase their happiness by how much?
Twenty-five percent!
All right.
Maybe you think you're an unhappy person.
You should start being thankful about things in life.
You can increase that happiness by 25 percent.
Well, that's a pretty big increase.
And all you need to do is be thankful.
Think about the many blessings that you have in your life, and maybe even make a
list.
And then you can look at them if you're having a bad day and remind yourself
just how lucky you are.
All right.
And the next tip we have here, the next benefit is that grateful people have
lower levels of depression and stress.
Well, that's great.
We've already learned this month about how different things can help with
stress, right?
Exercise can help to reduce stress.
And of course if you are a grateful person, that can help reduce stress as well.
It also helps to reduce levels of depression.
And that is a word from our Word Bank.
Depression is that terrible, sad, overwhelming feeling that you just can't get
over.
But if you are thankful, then it can help lessen those feelings.
Then you won't be depressed or upset.
That's right.
Now many people have different reasons for why they feel depression or why they
are depressed.
Sometimes someone might... be depressed for a long time.
Maybe the doctor will say this is a kind of illness that you have that is called
clinical depression.
Sometimes people experience depression just for a short time, maybe every once
in a while. OK.
There are different kinds of depression.
But if you have a thankful spirit, this can help to fight against depression.
That's right.
And we want to help you fight against depression by giving you some time with
Steve and Ken in the Information Cloud,
where they will share with us about stinking thinking.
Hello, everyone.
First off, we should say to all of you:
Happy Thanksgiving!
We're learning that being thankful, not just during Thanksgiving but all year
round, is very beneficial.
I like the fourth benefit our author mentions because it points to a fascinating
phenomenon that we often overlook.
And it's this - how you think has an effect on your physical health.
We all know that when we're not getting enough sleep or when we... when our
bodies don't feel well, it can put us in a bad mood.
A sick body often affects our emotions and attitude in a negative way.
That's right.
But it works the other way, too.
When we let ourselves get discouraged or stressed out, when we complain and
dwell on being angry and critical,
what some people call stinking thinking, those negative thoughts will actually
have a harmful effect on our bodies.
Stinking thinking can manifest itself physically through stomach ulcers, chest
and back pain and dizziness, just to name a few.
So cultivating a thankful heart that is intentionally and frequently counting
our blessings is a good way to ward off the dangers of stinking thinking.
It'll help keep our bodies healthy.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
That's right.
It's important not to have stinking thinking.
You want to be a thankful person.
Let's look at our next benefit here.
People who are grateful place a low value on material goods.
All right. Well, what is a material good, Carolyn?
Well, that is something that you buy, so something that you can't take with you
when you die, a material good.
So lots of people put emphasis on having a really nice car or a big house or
expensive computers or clothes.
But those are just material goods.
That's right.
And if you're thankful, a really thankful person, you don't place a really high
value on those things.
You place a high value on your friendships and your family, those kinds of
things.
So therefore they don't waste their time and energy desiring what others have.
Hmm.
Do you ever really desire what other people have?
Carolyn, I think there's a word for that, when you just really want what someone
else has.
Yes. I think that might be envy.
Mmhm. That's right.
You envy something that someone else has.
You envy other people.
Maybe you covet or you are greedy.
Of course that's not a good attitude to have.
Don't waste your time or energy desiring what other people have.
Be thankful for what you have.
That's right.
And we continue reading that thankful people express greater satisfaction in
life and more hope for the future.
Well, that is great.
And there's a great word from the Word Bank: satisfaction.
If you have satisfaction, that means that you are happy with the way things are.
Yeah. You're satisfied; you're content.
Of course if you are working in business or you're a salesperson, it's important
to have customer satisfaction.
You want your customers to be satisfied with your product.
That's right.
And we continue.
The biggest benefit, though, is that a thankful attitude is contagious.
So if you are thankful, other people will be thankful as well.
And I think this is very true.
I know many thankful people, and I love being around them.
It affects my attitude as well.
OK. So you might be surprised by how good it makes you and those around you
feel.
It's so important to be thankful.
It is. And I am very thankful that we can spend some time with Michelle in the
Language Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
And let's get back to our lesson.
It is Thanksgiving.
So what will you do to show people that you are thankful?
Well, actually, Carolyn, I... um, I wrote a thank-you card here just for you to
show you I'm thankful.
For me? Oh, thank you!
You can read it now if you want.
Oh, thank you, Gabe.
Well, let's see.
It says thank you.
Uh, dear Carolyn, thank you for being good friend. Your friend, Gabe.
Um, Gabe, you're missing a word.
I am?
It should say thank you for being a good friend.
Oh, yeah! Thank you for being a good friend.
And for being a good teacher.
Ah, well, thank you, Gabe.
And thank you for joining us today on Studio Classroom.
We'll see you next time.
Goodbye.