4 Books To Become More Thankful In 2021
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Throughout this year while trying to start reading more, I’ve come across several books that have helped make me a more grateful person. I wanted to quickly share these books with you and some reasons for why I think they can make us more thankful this year. Happy holidays and enjoy!
The Rational Optimist
The Rational Optimist is a book that goes against the commonly held belief today that the world is a bleak looking place and the future obviously looks worse. Matt Ridley offers a compelling argument that not only is now the best time in history to be alive, but that if anything the observable facts point towards things becoming even better.
Ridley offers page after page of historical data showing the dramatic reductions in disease, crime, and poverty while showing how the trend in economic progress continues to rise. He tells the history of how humans have overcome assumed disasters in the past. One example of this is the previously held belief that a rising population in India would eventually lead to the failure to provide food for the country. As the size of the country grew and the economy increased, not only did the rise in food production allow for the population to be sustained, but also a food surplus allowed it to become one of the country’s major exports.
These examples and explanations of the problems we face today help dispel the widely spread notion that the future is some apocalyptic vision that we cannot avoid. Ridley helps to combat the pessimism that pervades the world today with some optimism that can help make us all more thankful for the world we live in today. I particularly love the quote that he uses to top the first chapter of his book and it makes me feel more grateful that I am able to stand on the shoulders of the success of all the history before me:
“On what principle is it, that when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?”
-Thomas Babinton Macaulay
Mindset
Carol Dweck’s Mindset is a book that helps cultivate thankfulness based on our perspective. In it, she describes the differences between what she calls a fixed and growth mindset. In short:
The fixed mindset means that you believe that your traits and abilities are fixed. This mindset leads people to assume that they cannot step outside of their current situations to improve and grow. They believe that intelligence is a fixed trait and tend to have low motivation to try to learn new skills.
Conversely, a growth mindset means that you believe that your abilities are only based on the effort and time you spend to improve. There are inherent differences between people that allow them to be more or less successful in a specific pursuit. However, the difference from a fixed mindset is that no matter where you are today, you believe that with dedication you can become better at anything.
In Mindset, Dweck talks about many tips for cultivating a growth mindset and the benefits it can give to us. I believe that not only will having a growth mindset allow us to view ourselves as having more potential but also it forces a more thankful mindset. Where a fixed mindset sees yourself as stuck in comparison to others, a growth mindset only compares you to yourself.
This means that you will see yourself as a product of your efforts and you will be grateful that you have gotten where you are and that you have the ability to improve.
Man’s Search for Meaning
The next book is a somber one but one that I think is great for taking on a more thankful perspective. Man’s Search for Meaning is a book by holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. This book is a bit different from other books that take place during the holocaust in that not only does he describe his time in the concentration camps, but he also tells his story from a psychological perspective.
Frankl describes his theory of “logotherapy” where he states that the primary motivation for a person is to find meaning in life. This theory is what allowed Frankl to survive the atrocities he experienced as it gave him meaning to imagine leaving the camp and telling this theory to the world. He explains many experiences that helped reinforce this idea, citing examples of fellow inmates and how those with a lack of meaning for the future suffered far worse than those who had an ideal to hold onto.This did not need to be some grandiose set of values but meaning could be found in anything even getting through to the next morning for the daily ration of bread.
Frankl explains that the primary motivation for life is through this search for meaning. As Neitzsche did before him, he tells how someone with the right why can bear almost any how even in the face of extreme suffering.
I think any book about the holocaust would help make us more thankful as we can be glad that we live in a time and place where we can hope to avoid something so terrible. Man’s Search for Meaning takes this one step further by explaining how despite any suffering we experience, we can learn to be thankful for the ability to live another day and find meaning in our lives.
Waking up
The final book I’d like to discuss is Waking Up by Sam Harris. This book discusses practices of meditation and mindfulness. I’ve discussed this topic here but essentially mindfulness is the practice of more clearly observing and experiencing the contents of consciousness. This is typically done through the practice of meditation. In meditation, you sit and give your undivided attention to experience. This means you attempt to clear your mind of thoughts and observe any sensation you notice.
The more practiced you become at meditation the more clearly you are able to experience the world around you. You are able to go about your day without being as distracted by fleeting thoughts or worries and allow yourself to be more at peace. You experience less stress and feel more connected with the world and those around you. The perspective gained through this allows us to appreciate the positive more and get through the negative easier.
As a result of my practice, I have felt a heightened sense of thankfulness. I believe this is due to the realization that all of our negative emotions we experience come from our own thoughts and by becoming more aware of these and learning to observe consciousness clearly, it becomes obvious that there is plenty to be thankful for every day.