With winter bringing on “the season of giving” and receiving, prioritizing gratitude is essential to enjoying the holidays and appreciating all we have. But today, it seems that gratitude is becoming harder and harder to come by and that people are less grateful than we once were. This lack of gratitude is not necessarily a conscious choice by our generation, but rather a result of the world we live in. Online, it is nearly impossible not to compare what you have to others, and it makes it very hard to appreciate what you have. Also making gratitude more challenging for people in today’s society are instant gratification and the seemingly unlimited opinions for everything we are exposed to all the time.
A huge impediment for gratitude is social media. Today, so much on social media is advertisements, influencers’ “hauls,” and soon “what I got for Christmas” posts. This content peddles over-consumption and shows, frankly, unrealistic ideas of what people should own. The push for materialism has grown in our society and with it comes a loss of gratefulness.
Also making people feel less gratitude is the increased amount of instant gratification in everyday life. Instant gratification is the need for immediate satisfaction without obstacles or any delay – examples are scrolling TikTok, binge-watching TV and online shopping with same-day shipping. According to Bucknell University, instant gratification will become more prominent in the generations born after 2000. This need for immediate gratification and essentially always getting it limits real thankfulness.
Being grateful in today’s world requires conscious effort. Social media, constant comparisons and the instant gratification culture make it too easy to overlook what is already in our lives. The exposure to materialistic ideals and curated lifestyles leaves us with a feeling of inadequacy. But, gratitude is not impossible and needs to be nurtured with more mindful practices, reflection and genuine appreciation of all things small and significant. Slowing down, limiting the influence of comparison and focusing on what really matters is what we can do to have a better sense of thankfulness. Embracing gratitude allows us to experience the holidays with more joy and connection.
