Mahalo is a word I often heard during my holidays when I was fortunate enough to take an epic trip with my family to the Hawaiian Islands. Mahalo expresses gratitude, appreciation, or praise. Gratitude or mahalo can be bidirectional or between two people, or it could be a singular experience where one person is thankful for something.
A Word For 2025
Many declare a “word” or their driving focus for the new year. For me, it is about whatever is speaking to me. It may come during meditation, exercise, or when I am in the shower. At the beginning of December, so many things and words struck me, but one thing that stood out was how grateful I was for my health, family, friends, opportunities, and life. I thought briefly about having the word for 2025 be gratitude. Then, the weeks leading up to our trip hit, and the season’s chaos took over, and I set aside the thought of my “word.”
Mahalo: Living in Thankfulness
While in Hawaii, the two words you hear frequently are aloha and mahalo. Aloha is a greeting (hello/goodbye), and mahalo is “thank you.” However, in Hawaii, mahalo is often more than just a casual “thanks”; it conveys respect and sometimes more profound gratitude. Hawaiians are acutely aware of resources, beauty, and nature, perhaps more than I’d witnessed in a long time. As the pace slowed and I soaked up the experience, I decided that my goal for 2025 was to live in thankfulness with mahalo as my representative word.
Gratitude and Health
They’ve been studying the health outcomes associated with expressions of gratitude for over twenty years. Feelings of gratitude are tied to greater psychological and personal outcomes and may help treat anxiety or depression (Diniz et al., 2023).
When we experience gratitude, either giving or receiving it, we have positive emotions, and dopamine increases in the brain and the peripheral circulation. Practicing gratitude in various good and bad circumstances makes maintaining more positive feelings easier or more feasible, even during less desirable situations (Yin, 2019).
Incorporating Mahalo or Gratitude in Your Life
Increasing thankfulness or expressing gratitude doesn’t need to be a big event. The beauty of this is that it is relatively easy to add to your everyday life.
Say Thank You
The typical person has about 12 social interactions daily (Zhaoyang et al., 2018). During these interactions, there is bound to be an opportunity to express gratitude. This could be verbally or via writing in text or email and could even be nothing more than “thank you.” Expressing gratitude towards someone results in a positive experience for both the person expressing it and the person receiving it. If you are skeptical, the next time someone says thank you or expresses gratitude towards you, stop and reflect on how it changes your feelings.
Keep a Journal
Keep a journal by your bedside and take a few moments either at the beginning or end of the day, or even both if it suits you, and note:
- Something good that resulted from someone else’s action.
- Something good that did not result from the immediate or the direct actions of either yourself or someone else.
Reflecting on both types of events enables greater awareness of the good associated with and without a benefactor.
Internal Reflection
This is perhaps the easiest thing to do, and you can do it at any point in the day. It doesn’t require paper or interaction, just a moment to think and reflect. Maybe you think best while standing in the shower, exercising, or even driving. Or maybe you like to engage in a meditative or prayer practice. Find what works for you and reflect on what you might have to be grateful for.
One last thing to remember is that when you practice gratitude, you must be “real.” Sometimes, life throws challenges, and it is okay to be unhappy about it. Practicing gratitude is about being honest with yourself and not trying to force inauthentic gratitude or positivity into everything.
Closing Mahalo
If you’ve read this far, I want to say a closing mahalo. I am grateful for the time you’ve spent here and hope that in some way, it helps you live a better, healthier, and fuller life.
References:
Diniz, G., Korkes, L., Tristão, L. S., Pelegrini, R., Bellodi, P. L., & Bernardo, W. M. (2023). The effects of gratitude interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 21, eRW0371. https://doi.org/10.31744/einstein_journal/2023RW0371
Yin, J. (2019). Study on the Progress of Neural Mechanism of Positive Emotions. Translational Neuroscience, 10, 93–98. https://doi.org/10.1515/tnsci-2019-0016
Zhaoyang, R., Sliwinski, M. J., Martire, L. M., & Smyth, J. M. (2018). Age Differences in Adults’ Daily Social Interactions: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study. Psychology and Aging, 33(4), 607–618. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000242