Gratitude: What a glorious way to end 2025!

By Patrick Sassou ABAH-DAKOU

This morning, I was reflecting on 2025 and planning for 2026. It just dawned on me that instead of being in a hurry to start planning and visioning 2026, I need to pause, take stock and count my blessings for 2025. The purpose of this article is to help us experience the benefits of gratitude by ending 2025 with thanksgiving and a heart full of gratitude, rather than one filled with regret.

Gratitude derives from the Latin word gratus, which means “thankful, pleasing.”

Commenting on the powerful impact of gratitude, Melody Beattie states: “Gratitude turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity… It makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” The benefits of gratitude are enormous, and some of them are: Gratitude frees us from the entitlement mindset; as Paul Gibbons rightly said: “Feeling entitled is the opposite of feeling grateful. Gratitude opens the heart, entitlement closes it.”

Gratitude promotes mental, emotional and physical well-being. As a leader, one of the most effective ways to develop your emotional intelligence quotient is to practise gratitude very often. A grateful leader is likely to be a self-aware leader. Zig Ziglar remarks: “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”

Gratitude enhances your awareness of others, making them feel valued and appreciated. “A person who feels appreciated will always do more than is expected,” states Brigette Hyacinth. Gratitude brings contentment, as the German philosopher Kent observed: “It is funny about life: once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you start to lose sight of the things you lack.”

Gratitude creates a “vision for tomorrow” and opens our minds to opportunities and possibilities. As the year 2025 comes to a close, I have chosen to align with the quote of John F. Kennedy, the former President of the US: “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to God, my wife, my daughter, my parents, my in-laws, my siblings, my pastors, my mentors, my friends, to all the exceptional B&FT team members, to all the excellent Oral Roberts University staff, professors and doctoral students, and to all those who have made a difference in my life, including all my clients. Thank you very much, and I am grateful.

>>>the writer is Founder and CEO of P&F Coaching International. He is a Certified Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Coach, ACC-ICF, Consultant and International Facilitator, author of the book Emotional Intelligence: The Game Changer in Leadership (available on Amazon), [email protected]; https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-abah-dakou-0582a519b

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