Practicing Gratitude: Strengthening Your Ability to Notice the Good
We may only be three days into the new year but 2023 has been serving me a big lesson in gratitude so far. I ended 2022 and started 2023 with no running water in my house (for 6 days) but instead of letting it get me down, I chose to use it as a chance to work on my gratitude practice.
Although it was a huge inconvenience and was extremely frustrating at times, it also made me realize just how many little things in my life that I take for granted. Rather than focusing on the negative aspects of the water outage I chose to focus on all of the amazing things that I still had in my life. I also reflected back on some international trips where I’ve seen so many people living happily without many of the modern conveniences we have here. By changing my attitude about a situation - that I had no control over -it made it feel less significant than it actually was, which helped keep my spirits up.
What is Practicing Gratitude?
If you’ve ever been told that the key to a happy life is simply appreciating what you have, then you know the power of practicing gratitude. When we take a few moments each day to feel grateful for something – big or small – it can have far-reaching effects on our mental health, relationships, and even our outlook on life. Let’s dive into why practicing gratitude is so important and how it can be a game-changer.
Living your life with gratitude helps you notice the little wins each day. These don’t have to be big moments either, they can be things like like the bus showing up right on time, a stranger holding the door open for you, or the sun shining through your window when you wake up in the morning. Each of these small moments string together to create a web of well-being that, over time, strengthens your ability to notice the good things that happen to you each day.
The Benefits of Practicing Gratitude
Practicing gratitude has so many amazing benefits! It can help reduce stress and improve physical health by increasing positive emotions and reducing negative emotions. It also increases self-esteem by helping us recognize our own achievements and strengths. It’s even been shown to improve relationships by promoting understanding and empathy towards others. Living with gratitude allows us to savor the present moment more deeply and appreciate what we have now rather than worrying about what might be missing from our lives in future.
How To Get Started
Building your capacity for gratitude isn’t difficult, it just takes practice. The more you can bring your attention to the things you feel grateful for, the more things you’ll begin to feel grateful for!
There are many ways you can practice gratitude daily but here are three simple options:
Journal about 3 things you are thankful for each day
Share an appreciation post on social media
Take 5 minutes each day before bed, just sitting with yourself, and think about all the things that bring joy into your life.
Stick with whichever method works best for you and it will definitely pay off over time.
Taking time each day to practice gratitude will not only help build resilience when life gets tough, but it also creates positive momentum throughout your life by allowing yourself to appreciate every moment as it comes along. The benefits of cultivating this habit are far reaching; from improving physical health, reducing stress levels, and boosting self-esteem – to strengthening relationships with those around us, and promoting understanding and empathy towards others. So take some time today and start noticing all that brings goodness into your life – it could be just the game-changer you need!
If you feel strongly that you want to add a gratitude practice to your routine but find yourself struggling a bit, a Soul Journey is a great way to dive deeper in to change old mindset patterns and limiting beliefs. Let me know if you’re interested in learning more about Transformational Hypnosis sessions.