5 Things to be grateful for in this moment
If someone asked you, right now, to say or write down five things that you are grateful for in this moment, what would your five things be?
In November, around Thanksgiving, we can naturally and easily say we are grateful, or thankful – But what about other times of the year? What if gratitude became a daily practice?
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, and confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace to today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” – Melody Beathe
Daily Gratitude Practice
Making gratitude a daily practice is easy. Simply use a beautiful blank book, and each night before you go to bed, write down five things that you are grateful for. This blank book, now filled with your gratitude for each day, will be your Gratitude Journal. I first learned about the idea from a wonderful book called “Simple Abundance” by Sarah Ban Breathnach. I highly recommend reading it.
Use this as a way to reflect on things in your life for which you are grateful. For instance, when keeping a gratitude journal, you typically write down 5 things (every day) that make you feel grateful. It’s like counting your blessings or focusing on the positive, little details of your life. Therefore, make it a habit – list 5 things you are grateful for before bed.
How can Gratitude effect your daily life?
Gratitude can and does affect our attitude in several positive ways: for example, if we are grateful, it’s quite likely we have:
a high level of positive emotions
life satisfaction
optimism
lower levels of depression and stress
the capacity to deal well with the negative aspects of life
the ability to see life from another person’s perspective
a generous and caring nature
the capacity to be empathetic and
an attitude that material things in life just don’t matter as much
Interestingly, studies also indicate that grateful people do not necessarily look at the world through rose colored glasses. In fact, grateful people are more aware of the negative elements of society. For many, feeling grateful doesn’t mean that everything in their lives is great, but perhaps it’s because of their awareness of the negative that they do have a healthy and positive attitude towards all the things for which they are thankful. (“Create a Magical Life…with gratitude!” by Dr. Stacey Scott)
Looking for ways to help you manage the stress in your life and ways to find gratitude, joy, and appreciation? Check out the Yoga, Mindfulness, and Meditation Tool Box on our website.
To find out more, go to: www.peacefulyoga.net
