I think you might lack a concept of what gratitude is. It's an emotion. It makes you feel warm. That in turn quite often leads to higher feeling of self worth.
Most people internal sense of self worth does get updated when they see evidence indicating that they actually do deserve something because they get it.
If I ask a woman out and she agrees than my self-worth rises. If she rejects me my self worth might drop a bit. In either case I might still question the wisdom of her decision and not base my complete self worth on one interaction but if over time interactions do effect my feeling of self-worth.
Isn't gratitude a deep, heartfelt thank-you to others, to life, to the universe, but not to yourself, because it is based being thankful for getting something you were not owed? Because if you get something you was owed, why feel this? And if you earn something yourself, it is not like getting an un-owed present from yourself...
“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Garden of Eden see here
Did you know The surprising downsides of being clever? Is Happiness And Intelligence: Rare Combination? There are longitudinal studies which seem to imply this: Being Labeled as Gifted, Self-appraisal, and Psychological Well-being: A Life Span Developmental Perspective
I found these via slashdot.
As LessWrong is harbor to unusually high-IQ people (see section B in here). I wonder how happiness compares to the mean. What are your thoughts.