The daily practice of gratitude has proven to be of great value.
It can be real energy booster.
Without it we can find ourselves treading in deep water without any progress being made. This state of non-gratitude is one of the reasons we feel so distraught most of the time.
If you want to practice being more grateful for what you have today, here are our 8 simple steps for finding gratitude:
- Keep a gratitude journal – write down everything you are grateful for everyday
- Remember the bad and the good – learn to distinguish them
- Ask yourself three questions everyday – what can I improve, what do I already have that I’m grateful for, what will I be grateful for tomorrow
- Learn how to have internal gratitude for the things you’ve done
- Come to your senses – stop relying solely on feeling and use your senses and brain to think about it
- Use visual reminders and cues to ensure you remain grateful
- Make a promise to yourself to practice gratitude everyday
- Watch your language and be careful with it – don’t complain too much
Everything in our lives is happening for a reason.
It’s easy to feel lost and down when things aren’t going well. We tend to feel desperate, alone and vulnerable. In these moments feeling thankful for what you do have, material and non-material. It can boost your mood.
Much the same when things are good be just as thankful for what you have in your life. Be grateful for all those who have helped you.
Cultivating the daily practice of gratitude alone can set your life, your perspective and your experience in an uplifting direction immediately.
Each day wake up and think about what you are thankful for. It can be anything from something material like food on the table or cupboard full of clothes to someone in your life that has been your pillar of strength during a difficult time.
What are 3 things you are grateful for?
Things To Be Thankful For In Life
Here are the main things people are grateful for in their lives:
- Your family
- Close friends
- Good health
- Your home
- Your job
- Healthy food
- Your education
- Your pets
If you have any of these things, and you are struggling with gratitude, just remember the huge amount of people who don’t have any of these things to be grateful for. Remember to be grateful for each one of these things.
Of course, don’t neglect gratitude for everyday things like being warm or having a roof over your head.
Your family and friends are the most important thing to be grateful for in life, but it’s easy to take them for granted, especially if you have had your family and friends with you since childhood.
How can I be happy and grateful for what I have?
Sometimes, it feels like you are too blessed to be grateful. Or you have been suffering for so long that you feel unable to give thanks for anything.
It’s good to remember what your blessings are every day, however bad or painful they are because gratitude heals. Also the more you are thankful for something, the more it will grow in your life.
For example, if you feel thankful for your family every day, it will bring love into your life which is what relationships are all about. If you practice gratitude on a daily basis, eventually when bad times come into your life, you won’t be as affected by them because of the positivity that has been built in.
Why am I not grateful for what I have?
People are not grateful for what they have because they are focused on the things that they don’t have. They might be focusing on envy, materialism, narcissism, and cynicism. It is important to take time to be grateful for what we have in order to not let these things affect us in a negative way.
Is it OK to not feel grateful?
Yes, because without validation it’s very hard to be truly grateful. When you try to force gratitude on yourself before this point, you may end up feeling bullied into feeling something different. It will backfire.
Do I have to be grateful for what happened?
No one can dictate how you feel about anything that’s happened in your life. Sometimes things happen and the best thing you can do is accept it and move on. It’s not always about being thankful or grateful for what happened, it is just more about how you can move forward with your life and leave the past behind you, even if it was good times.
Being grateful for everything in your life isn’t exactly easy when things are bad too, but there is a lot to be said for gratitude even in those times. If you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food on the table then there are so many people who don’t have any of that.
Even if you lost everything you had tomorrow – fine home, loved ones, material things like cars and jewelry – it would be important to remember all the things you will have and be thankful for them.
How can I be grateful even when it’s hard?
Even if you don’t feel like being grateful, pretend that you are. There is a reason why gratitude heals and it’s because it connects us with our powerful inner selves. We can’t be connected to the greatest part of ourselves when we are feeling negative emotions such as fear, worry, anger and doubt.
If you have nothing obvious to be grateful for – think outside the box. Put your gratitude on paper. Write down the names of three people or things in your life you are grateful for, and why.
What are you grateful for today?
Best,
Dr. Asha Prasad
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