You will find this title a bit strange. Have you ever felt that when you are happy and feeling in good mood, everything happens by itself and works out well?
Sometimes it is the opposite and we wake up and feel doomed, often without any external cause or reason, yet everything throughout the day tends to confirm that initial feeling.
Seems like positivity is attracting more positivity and vice versa. And very similarly I perceive it with the feeling of gratitude. This is why I want to tackle this topic in this article.
What comes to your mind when you hear the word gratitude?
The word “gratitude” means a lot and at the same time stands for one of the most innocent and purest things. By saying “thank you”, it is possible to say what we could hardly express better with any other words. Other words could just “pulverize” the content of it.
Psychologists consider gratitude as one of the most important emotions, especially positive psychology practitioners. They proved through research and experiments how this emotion is increasing our feeling of happiness. Researches are pointing out the fact that people expressing gratitude are less depressed, and less prone to stress. But not only, they are as well more satisfied and happier with their social relationships.
By following the below research link, you will find a study in which the authors tracked the correlation between the feeling of happiness, “wellbeing” and gratitude. For example, they proved that even small acts of gratitude have an important influence on our mood and that “grateful” people lead happier lives. http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/pdfs/GratitudePDFs/5Watkins-GratitudeHappiness.pdf
So how to practice gratitude in your everyday life? How to increase your feeling of leading happy life?
An exercise that I often recommend to my clients is to write a journal. Thus I encourage you to try and spend at least couple of minutes every evening writing down 5 experiences from your day. Events that made you happy, feel good and for which you are thankful. It can be things as simple as a nice talk or good food.
Alternatively at least once a week save some time just for yourself and look back at your week to evaluate positive things that happened during that time. What you are glad for and how did you feel when this happened?
Or you can think about what went well, who helped you, what you are grateful for. What influences you in life, who helped you through this journey? Who had a major impact on your life? Once you have a name in mind, write this person a thank you letter or go thank him or her personally.
If you do not have a time or you do not want to write, it is as well possible to thank this person mentally. Even this is an act of gratitude.
Meditation also allows devoting to the topic of gratitude. What are we thankful for? Maybe something that you did not think about before will pop out.
Simple exercises suffice: Say thank you for little things you notice and the others don’t or just take for granted. I believe that this is a beautiful exercise for mindfulness: “to be conscious of what is happening with one self, one’s own thoughts and feelings and thanks to this to be able to notice other people’s acts of kindness and say thank you for them”.
How big a role is “here and now” awareness playing?
But what is helping me personally is to become more aware of the nature and all of the beauty around. I am fully focused, diving into the moment and observe what I experience, perceive, what do I see, hear, smell. In short by connecting all our senses we are able to realize how much was given to us.
It seems to me important to learn to be grateful even for small things (that we have a place to sleep, for the warmth, etc.), because feelings of gratitude are surrounding us with a climate that attracts what we wish for and desire.
Bringing up children, well-functioning relationships and even the attitude towards ourselves proves that focusing on what works well yields greater successes. Positiveness is a seed that need a positive attitude to grow.
I am convinced that there will never be enough of showing your gratitude in a relationship, whether in a partnership or towards parents. Gratitude for life, health and all the beauty of the nature around. And I feel it has an importance to learn to see those gifts and be able to stop the inner dialog and self-pity. These are moments which are awaking us.
And even though we don‘t have everything that we need at all times, let’s try to focus and be grateful for what is already in our life.
Because if we are able to appreciate who we are, who and what we have in our life right now, we can reach more of the desired.
When our life and the radiation from us will be filled with love and gratitude, even welfare and prosperity will come. Because I believe that the more we give, the more we get.
