Gratitude is such a powerful emotion, one that can make your life better in so many ways. It’s quite difficult to feel depressed or sorry for yourself when you are feeling grateful.
Have you asked yourself when was the last time you felt grateful for something? What was it? Why did you feel grateful? How did you express your gratitude? More importantly, how did your gratitude affect other areas of your life? Did you feel a little extra bounce in your step? Were you happier? Did you have a more optimistic outlook toward the future?
Gratitude is a simple tool we all have at our disposal to improve our own well-being and that of others. Feeling grateful boosts positive emotions like joy and compassion while encouraging us to look for and connect with what’s good in life. This helps us switch our attention from toxic emotions, such as resentment and envy.
Here are 6 simple ways to make gratitude a part of everyday.
- Engage in Mindfulness
Consider five to ten things for which you are grateful every day. The key is to visualize it in your thoughts and sit with a sense of thankfulness throughout your body. You’ll start to feel better after each session as a result of daily practice, which will rewire your brain to be inherently more appreciative. Your brain is a strong instrument, and training it to be grateful will help to ensure that as you practice, gratitude will flow more naturally and you will attract more positive things in your life.
- Don’t be picky: value everything
It’s not necessary to save your gratitude until life’s “major” moments. Recognizing that nothing in life is too small for you to be thankful for and appreciating everything that you have in life are the first steps in developing the habit of gratitude. Do not leave anything out when practicing thankfulness, even if it is as basic as praising the blue skies or how fast your mailman delivered your mail last Friday.
- Maintain a gratitude journal
Write down your uplifting ideas after your mindful practice! You may keep track of and refer back to the good things in your life by keeping a notebook of all the things you are grateful for. To concentrate even more on the topic, write down your uplifting thoughts. When you put pen to paper, you are forced to focus solely on the words you are writing, free from any other unappreciative or distracting ideas. After your appreciation exercise, you can journal every day, or you can revisit the diary on a regular basis every week or month reminding yourself of past times when you were full of gratitude.
- Express your gratitude
Sometimes expressing your gratitude just to yourself alone is a great reminder of focusing on the positive times of your life. By showing the same thankfulness to the people you care about, you might feel more grateful. Expressing your thankfulness to someone can do wonders for raising your own levels of gratitude and happiness in addition to making their day a little bit lighter. A strong connection of caring will be a result of this exchange.
- Take time to be with loved ones
Spend time with your friends and family if you’re having a hard time being grateful right in this moment. Of course, it will improve your bond with them and help you get to know them better, but it will also give you a chance to practice showing thanks to those who are important to you.
- Make yourself happier
Being happy can make you grateful, but being grateful can also make you happy. There are many more ways to improve your mood, such as working out or engaging in an activity you like. Once the endorphins start to flow, expressing gratitude will be even simpler, and you’ll be able to keep track of all the things in your life for which you are grateful on list after list.
This is an aspect of your life that will help you generate more positivity and keep you floating on a happier way of living. Being grateful and showing gratitude is like a muscle that needs to be constantly exercised for it to bring wonderful results and make your life a happier and more fulfilled one.
Enjoy this practice!
Lots of Blessings
Doris Muna
Founder: Dorothea Essences & Healing