Being consciously grateful is essential to a happy life. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners.
No matter who you are, where you are or what kind of
challenges you face in your life, there is always something to be grateful for.
Take a moment to think about what you are grateful for today. Having trouble? Start small- a roof over your head, blankets when it’s cold,
clean water, access to fresh food, the clothes on your back. These blessings
may seem insubstantial, but they are blessings nonetheless. There are millions
of people around the world that don’t have one, or even all, of these things.
What about your ability to see, to hear, to speak? To walk,
to have full use of your body, to have all of your limbs? Your good health.
There are millions of people who are terminally ill, or can’t walk, or can’t
see or communicate with their loved ones because they can’t speak.
For your right to think for yourself and believe what you
want? Many people in other parts of the world do not have that privilege. Or to be able to go to school or
have had an education? There are millions of people all over the world that
have never attended school because of barriers like their culture or simply
because they are a girl.
What about the fact that you can leave your home without fearing for your life? Mane people live in such unsafe areas in the world that they cannot get through one day without hearing of a friend of family member being killed by terrorists, bombs, guns, or otherwise.
Then try to go deeper and try to think of everyday blessings and
moments to be grateful for. The way the sun rays are peeking through the trees
this morning. How your warm coffee feels in your hands on a cool day. The
sunshine on your face. The way it feels to hug your partner in the morning
before work. The way the wind sounds in your ears. There is so much to be
grateful for, if you are paying attention.
There are many way to practice being grateful every day.
Be
present
Being present is key when it comes to cultivating a grateful
attitude. If you are not aware of yourself, your surroundings and what you are
doing and feeling in every moment, it makes finding blessings to be grateful
for much more difficult. If you fly through your day on autopilot, you miss so
many beautiful moments. But if you pay attention, you will find that there is
so much to be grateful for.
Keep
a gratitude journal
Gratitude journaling works because it slowly changes the way
we perceive situations by adjusting what we focus on. I used to keep a daily
log of all the things I am grateful for throughout the day. It helped me to be
more present throughout the day and forced me to mediate on my day in the
evenings when I was recalling what I felt grateful for to list in my journal. It
started out small, lacking creativity really, just listing the obvious. But the
more I did it, the longer the lists grew each day, and the more specific my
lists became. I did this more a long time until being present and having a
grateful attitude became habitual and came natural to me. Opening your eyes to
more of the world around you can deeply enhance your gratitude practice. Make a
game out of noticing new things each day.
Be
positive
Having a grateful attitude makes it easy to turn negative
emotions or circumstances into positive ones. For example, next time you want
to complain about your job, just stop and instead be consciously grateful that
you have a job and can provide for yourself. If you can be grateful and
eliminate negativity when you see it, you will find that you complain less,
feel less stressed, less irritated by people or behaviors. Your attitude and
your views of life and the world are shaped by how you think. If you can change
the way you think, you can change your world.
Appreciate
challenges
We are not defined by circumstance, but rather by our
attitudes towards them. We will face hardships and be dealt crappy hands at one
time or another, and we have no choice in the matter. The only thing we can
control is how we choose to let these things affect us. Try to appreciate the
challenges you are faced with and look for the positives, perhaps what there is
to learn- about yourself or of an important lesson.
Remember, you get what you give and being
grateful will only bring more positivity into your life!
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