Words matter: appreciation vs gratitudeI had a friend who used to talk about deliberately choosing words because he believed strongly that words hold power. I used to laugh sometimes at how passionate he got when he spoke, but I always listened. He had a ton to say about it, but here’s one thing that stuck with me over the years..Around this time every year, I see lots of people start talking and writing about gratitude and things they’re thankful for. And it always reminds me of what my friend used to tell me: APPRECIATION IS A BETTER WORD THAN GRATITUDE..Appreciation causes you to focus on the purely positiveYou usually only appreciate WHAT IS THERE. Whereas when you say you’re grateful, you can be grateful even for what is not there, which opens you up to accidentally focusing on the unwanted. For example, you can be grateful you weren’t in a car accident when you drove on that icy road. You can be grateful that you didn’t get laid off from your job like a lot of your colleagues d…
