Friday, December 31, 2010

Gratitude Index: Being Thankful in 2010

Since the year is coming to an end, it's natural that there's enough to evaluate before ringing in the year 2011, and looking back on what the world was thankful for in 2010 sounds like just the right thing to me!

A while back I randomly came across a website called ThankfulFor, which positions itself as "an online gratitude journal and gratitude sharing community focused on the pursuit of happiness". Not only did I like it because it's obviously a great idea and I felt ideologically connected, but I was also drawn to it upon doscovering some coincidences and similarities: the main coincidence being the fact that both our thankful projects were started in September 2009, and the similarity being the projects' grateful outcomes - namely, gratitude indexes.

ThankfulFor.com was operating for a little over a year when thankful people behind it decided to analyze the data from a percentage of the journal's public posts to see what their community was most thankful for in 2010, and here's the infographic they came up with:

(view full report here)


























When I first saw it, I realized I was seeing a noticeably similar thankful trend among the people taking my survey. Here's the pie chart of the things the survey respondents have been reporting feeling most thankful for so far:















The percentage of people thankful for people in both our infographics is strikingly similar - 45,2% and 44%! I thought this was just too good not to share. I then decided to take another look at my own thanksgiving year and I could still see a certain pattern - mostly I was thankful for various life givens and episodes, followed by all things I labelled inspiration, with people coming in third. Then there were health, nature, personal growth, trips/vacations, all things food and beverage, closing in with looks and beautiful things. Personally, I am very satisfied with all of the data - I love the values I see people expressing! 


Where do you think your thankfulness would rank? And what do you think about these findings, are the results any close to what you'd expect to see?

17 comments:

  1. This is very interesting! It's nice to see that people rank highest in terms of thankfulness. I wouldn't have expected that, to be honest!

    I think people would rank pretty high for me, as would health and well-being. I would probably rank religion higher.

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  2. So amazing :) Have a wonderful 2011 x

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  3. Happy new year! Are you doing anything fun and exciting this year?

    Wow, that's a cool site! I'm pretty much just thankful for being surrounded by the people I love, and even though I was laid off, I'm thankful I have the fortune to find another job to help me pay my bills until I get rehired!!!

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  4. JULIAAA!!! SNOVOM GODOM!!! TSELUJU I Z6LAJU TEBJE VSIVO HOROSHOVO I PRIATNOVO!!! :)

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  5. Wow, what a wonderful analysis! I am happy to see people/pets and health are the top ranked :) All is right with the world. I would have to agree with the majority and say I am most thankful for the people in my life along with my health :)

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  6. Wow, so interesting to see the data conveyed in this way. I think the overwhelming lean toward thankfulness for people and pets can be looked at in a different way--as humans, we're all thankful for connections, to be connected to others and to be recognized as part of the whole. Most people see evidence of this most readily in their relationship with other people, but all aspects of both thankful graphs represent a different form of connection which is ultimately divine! I am most thankful for this connectedness and to feel it manifest in so many ways.

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  7. For me, I'd have to say it would be money/job. Then people and feelings. It's nice to see how much people value other people. Nice blog :)

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  8. I think on my part it would be people who are close to my heart and then life in general.

    This is very interesting! Thanks for sharing! Happy New Year, Julia!

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  9. mine would most definitely be with people and life. strangely enough, off the top of my head health would not even be close to the top 3! i guess that proves that good health is indeed something i should be thankful for (:

    anyway, thank you so much you! the experience thus far has been mind boggling and eye opening and though hard, i know all will be good at the end of the day. i'm holding on!

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  10. I think people are what make life worth living! How can you really enjoy something by yourself if you don't have anyone to share it with? It's like, people are the spice of life. So I can see how people and pets would be the highest in the thankful index. :D Good post!

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  11. I probably would think my highest gratitude would go to "GOD" ...does this goes to People category?

    Or "given the circumstances" if speaking non-religiously!!

    Then, I'd say my friends around me have the next most important influence/impact on me.

    Happy new year, Julia!!!

    R.

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  12. So interesting that the findings were identical. Great work! As always, love what you do! :)

    xx rk
    STUDIO SWAG

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  13. I think I would be thankful for people too :) Most of the time, the things you have or the things that you are going through become more valuable when experiencing it with other people---friends, family, loved ones ;)

    Happy 2011 Julia! Looking forward to reading more of your Thank You Project ;)

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  14. Very cool breakdown, darling!
    Love it!

    xoxox,
    CC

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  15. You found your soulmate! :) That's really interesting and I must say, I'm glad to hear it. I would hope that People and Health would be near the top of the list. How interesting that you both had such similar start dates and ideas, must be something bigger at work here.

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  16. ..some people are very important in our lifes and that survey makes it really real - that we do appreciate that ..

    I just talk with someone about your ' Thank You ' project after I read the last post , I said about your 'Thanks' from a to z , and she send me ( For me Thanks for skype : ) )that she just thought about electric , how important that is , because there is region in the Lv at the moment without electric for some time because of the snow ..
    if electric goes that really makes your world uside down ..

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  17. My thanks once again addressed to those people who invented CBD oil, buy new information. It was this herbal medicine that supported me throughout the course of chemotherapy. It might seem silly, but the pills just couldn't help me. Only herbs removed pain and restored my strength. It was the most valuable experience of my life.

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I appreciate you taking the time to connect and share your thoughts, so thank you for your comment! And while you're at it... Why not tell me what you're thankful for today? ;-)