Leads to Service and a Chain of Goodness

As already stated, when you realize what you’ve been given, you’re motivated to give
back: the more you recognize what others have done for you, the more you want to do
for them; the more you appreciate the world, the more you want to make it better. But
the virtuous effect of gratitude ripples out further still.

Research shows that when you thank someone for what they’ve done for you, they not
only are more likely to help you again, they are more likely to help other people,
period. Cultivating and then expressing gratitude thus starts a web of virtue; it spreads
goodness like a very positive contagion that can literally transform families,
workplaces, communities, and the world at large. That’s an idea based not on a woo-
woo hippie platitude, but a concrete, empirically proven effect.

The potential of “paying it forward” is real, and it starts with a simple “Thank you.”