How to Practice Gratitude: 4 Secrets Backed by Research

Louis CK is one of my favorite comedians. In one of his bits, he talks about how air travelers have lost perspective on how amazing commercial flight actually is. Imitating a moaning passenger, he whines:

“I had to sit on the runway for 40 minutes.”

Then, he counters:

“Oh my god, really? What happened then, did you fly through the air like a bird, incredibly? Did you soar into the clouds, impossibly? Did you partake in the miracle of human flight and then land softly on giant tires that you couldn’t even conceive how they f**king put air in them?…You’re sitting in a chair in the sky. You’re like a Greek myth right now.” (1)

It’s All About Perspective

The fact that humans can fly is amazing. And so is pretty much everything else. I mean, have you ever considered what a miracle your existence is? Let’s look at some numbers. According to Dr. Ali Binazir’s calculations (2), the probability of you even existing at all (taking into account each of your ancestors reproducing successfully, your parents finding each other, the right sperm meeting the right egg, and so on) is about as likely as if:

“2 million people got together – about the population of San Diego – each to play a game of dice with TRILLION-sided dice. They each roll the dice, and they all come up the exact same number – say, 550,343,279,001.”

That’s pretty damn near impossible, and yet here you are. And if you’re like me, you routinely take this unfathomable miracle for granted. You might even complain about it from time to time.

So, why do we do that? Why can’t we appreciate our lives as the miracle it really is, and in the words of Louis CK, constantly yell “WIIIIIIIIIII!!!” every time we’re on a flight?

The Negativity Bias