We are often too busy with working off our overflowing to-do list and chasing our goals to be grateful for what we already have in our lives. How often do you intentionally pause during the day to just breath and appreciate the beauty of everything?
“The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now.” Oprah Winfrey
The purpose behind it
When you are grateful for what you have, you redirect your mind into a more positive direction. Being grateful can cure depression and sadness, because when you are thankful there is no room for negativity. Joy and depression can’t exist at the same time.
By being grateful you shift your focus from what you don’t have to what you do have and what is working in your life.
It doesn’t matter how simple the things you are grateful for may be. You may start with taking a pen and paper and writing everything you have down.
Your list may start with:
- I have clothes
- I have a roof over my head
- I am financially secured
- I have food to eat
- I have people in my life I can talk to
- I can walk
When you keep writing until you run out of ideas you will be surprised how long your list is. It is important to physically write it down and not just say it aloud, since there is power in the written words.
“Gratitude changes your perception. Your perception changes your existence.” Steve Harvey
Every moment is a gift and a new opportunity we can be grateful for.
Being grateful in daily life
To integrate gratitude in my life I write five small things from the last 24 hours into my journal every morning.
I am grateful to my trip to Altmünster am Traunsee.
When you have a gratitude practice, as you go through your day you will consciously start looking for things you can be thankful for. Through that you become more aware of the beauty of life. Sometimes those things can be as simple as “Your boyfriend giving you a warm hug.”
Try not to only be grateful for the big things in your life, like your family, try to find things you can be grateful for which happened in the last 24 hours. For example: Today I went for a walk in the sunshine just after it had stopped to rain.
Arianna Huffington said you can make your list even more effective by sharing it with two or more friends, who also share their lists with you.
Another way to integrate a gratitude practice in your life is by reading the list you made of everything you have every single day.
“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast
How can you be more grateful during the day? By stopping every now and then, looking around you, being aware of the beauty of life before you continue your day. You can also try to build stop signs in your life as a reminder to stop, calm down and appreciate what you have. Much too often we rush through life and forget to integrate our wins and we miss those small moments full of joy.
Instead of doing lots of things, life is about enjoying what is given to us.
“If you are grateful for what you have, you will receive more to be grateful for.” Jay Shetty
Be thankful for the people around you
You can not only be grateful for experiences and things, you can also show appreciation for the people in your life. If you ever heard a loved one express their gratitude towards you, even if it was just a simple “thank you”, you know how powerful those words are and how special they make you feel.
If making others compliments or telling them how grateful you are they are in your life, doesn’t come easy to you, try practicing it. Over time it will come more natural to you and will realize how much of an impact those small messages can have.
I hope with this blog post I could inspire you to start your own little gratitude practice or just to be more aware during the day, instead of just rushing through it.
Great people talking about gratitude:
- Oprah Winfrey
- Jay Shetty
- Mel Robbins
- Rachel Hollis
- Laura Seiler
- David-Steindl-Rast
- Arianna Huffington
