Count Your Blessings

Gratitude Makes A Difference

Gratitude is simply appreciating the good things in your life. If you’re like me, having gratitude isn’t always that simple. Our hectic, stressful lives sometimes leave us with a sense of unrest and disconnect with family and friends.  At those times, gratitude seems challenging. Learning how to embrace gratitude can significantly boost your happiness. Being grateful offers a host of other benefits you’re probably not aware of.  Let’s look at ways gratitude can improve your life and how to practice it.

Definitions of Gratitude

Gratitude has many definitions.  To some it is a feeling or emotion.  Or maybe it is more of a mood. Or maybe it is a personality trait a person displays. Probably all of these definitions are correct. In essence, gratitude produces satisfaction and appreciation in a person through feelings, actions, or even natural qualities. Gratitude is a practice or something you perform regularly. Most people practice something because it benefits them. This is true of gratitude. You can get better at exhibiting gratitude the more you work at it.

Why a Grateful Mindset?

The benefits of gratitude have been scientifically proven and why it’s important to develop a mindset of being grateful. One of the most important benefits of gratitude is the effect it has on your physical and mental health. It improves relaxation, sleep quality and energy levels. Being thankful for your blessings can enhance your emotional wellness. The added benefit of gratitude is you can better handle crisis situations.  You’ll find you’re able to look on the bright side and helps you have better relationships with family and friends.  Bottom Line – Having gratitude in your life can make you feel happier.

Counting Your Blessings

One of easiest ways for me to practice gratitude is to count my blessings.  I simply take a few minutes when I first wake up in the morning, while lying in bed and think at least three things I’m grateful for.  Then at night I think about at least three things that happened during the day that I’m grateful for.  Pretty soon you’ll notice you have more than three blessings in the morning and bedtime to be thankful.

Power Of Gratitude With Words

Words spoken or written are powerful.  They can help or hurt.  Since we’re talking about gratitude, let’s only look at the positive result words can have on your family and friends. Writing is a powerful process. Showing your appreciation with others in written words can have a big impact. Personal notes can really brighten a person’s day, and the positive vibes are far-reaching. Words spoken in gratitude are positive vibes for the recipient.  Either way you choose to share your gratitude be honest and share willingly.

Sharing Gratitude Strengthens Bonds

Words have meaning, but it’s often said that actions speak louder. A positive surprise of written or spoken words of gratitude almost always improves someone’s day and mood. This can be especially impactful if someone you know is going through a rough patch. Your small act will go far to strengthen existing bonds. When people feel a personal attachment, they tend to experience feelings of closeness and meaning. Your acknowledgement of their importance in your life will surely affect your relationship in a positive way.

Power Of Being Grateful Tips

We discussed why acknowledging, embracing and expressing gratitude is so important. We’ve covered specific ways to begin a practice of gratitude in our own life. I’m going to close today’s blog post with an in-depth list of helpful tips to assist you in tapping into your own power of being grateful. You can use these ideas as you move forward in creating your own routine.

Gratitude Walk

To relieve stress and gain perspective, go for a walk. You get out into the fresh air and away from distractions.  Besides the health benefits of physical exercise, walking is actually considered a form of meditation.  It’s a wonderful way to focus on gratitude. During your walk, you’ll want to pay attention to things and thoughts you encounter along the way.  Don’t be surprised that you’ll find plenty to be thankful for during this time during your walk.

Gratitude Collage

A visual way to display your gratefulness with family and friends is a gratitude collage.  It’s similar to a vision board.  You can cut out pictures from a magazine or add personal photos. Your collage can be a layout on a poster board or you can even keep your board electronically on Pinterest or some other app. The point is to collect images that move you to consider your good fortune. You want to place your gratitude collage in a place you can see it often and daily.  You’ll want to add to it regularly to keep your gratitude momentum going.

Friendsgiving and/or Familygiving

Friendsgiving and familygiving is like Thanksgiving.  You have a “family” you make of your friends and chosen family; the people you consider your family not necessarily all your biological family. This friendsgiving occasion is often held in place of traditional Thanksgiving for those who don’t have family physically nearby or who aren’t emotionally close with their relatives. Sometimes it takes place near the actual holiday. Many people have friendsgiving several times a year.  A gratitude party or get-together can remind you of the people who are most important in your life and enhance existing bonds.

Gratitude in Life’s Challenges

We all know how easy it is to focus on the bad stuff.  Getting stuck with negative thoughts can weigh us down.  You can shake it up by finding the gratitude in life’s challenges, looking for lessons or silver linings. Be sure to include those bits of gratitude you experienced during your life challenges at the end of the day during bedtime.  I’ve also found writing these grateful thoughts down in a journal has been helpful when I’m experiencing future life’s challenges.

Being Grateful By Helping Others

By helping others, you gain perspective and become more grateful for what you have. You can provide help through a formal volunteer effort with a philanthropic organization or it can simply be something like helping a neighbor you see who could use a hand carrying in their groceries. Whatever way you choose to help, you’ll gain the rewards when you pitch in to give to others. Try to do something to help someone else at least once a week, and you’re sure to experience a boost in gratitude.

Gratitude makes a difference in your life and the lives of your friends and family.  Gratitude is appreciating the good things in your life. Take the time to learn how to embrace gratitude.  It will boost your happiness.  Let’s all practice gratitude daily.

Here’s a video you can enjoy about GRATITUDE.