Gratitude

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is the quality or feeling of being thankful, or readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

It’s also a concept that can help make challenges in life bearable. It offers a positive perspective and gives you a reason to look at the bright side.

Adopting a mindset that prioritizes being thankful for what you do have, rather than fixating on what you don’t, will take you far in life. It’s simple, yet appears much harder to live by on the surface to so many people.

The concept puts an emphasis on rewiring your mind to focus on the many things to be thankful for. There are always obstacles in life that produce negative thoughts, but remembering the things you are blessed with instead will combat these thoughts.

Regardless of the degree of difficulty in life during hard times, there is always something to be grateful for.

Below is an excerpt from a Fearless Motivation podcast, titled “20 Principles That Will Lead to Success,” which highlights gratitude as one of the principles:

“There is always something to be grateful for. Grateful people are successful people. It’s been said many times, but it’s worth repeating until it sinks in. When you are grateful for everything that you do have in your life, your life is better.

Spending every morning thinking about and writing down what you are grateful for will transform your life. The very act of doing this will lead to a better mood. A better mood will lead to better relationships, a clearer mind and better results. And you will then attract more to be grateful for.”

This method is elaborated on in the next section of this article. But the takeaway here is the significance of training your mind to be grateful at all times in order to enhance different areas of your life.

Once you see the benefits and understand the process, it’ll be much easier to find ways to incorporate these feelings into your life.

Expressing Gratitude

The amount of ways that you can express gratitude are infinite. The ability to do so lies in your mind.

You can make the decision to wake up and manifest positive thoughts that lead to giving thanks rather than dwelling on hardships.

A good way to express gratitude is to spend 5-10 minutes in the morning writing down what you’re grateful for at that moment. It can be your family, job, body, health or anything else that comes to mind. It might even be something as simple as being thankful for waking up, or for the weather that day.

If you spend time doing this, your mind will go through the process of thinking about gratitude as you’re listing things on paper. This habit, if prolonged, will fill your mind with gratitude early and last throughout the day, affecting your mood and ability to deal with adversity.

It will also bring out a sense of realization in regards to all the things in your life that you appreciate. Most of the time, there’s more to be thankful for than you initially thought.

Meditation is another outlet to consider when seeking gratitude. Taking the time to pause and narrow your thoughts will give you time to focus on what’s gone right for you.

When you force your mind to allow only thoughts of gratitude for a moment, it can result in a shift in the way you approach things.

Meditating for just 10 minutes and thinking about everything in life that has positively touched you will carry over into your everyday life, even when you’re not in a meditation session.

Mixing meditation with writing down gratitude items in the morning is a good way to double up on this mindset and kickstart a transformation.

Gratitude also works in other ways. Texting a friend or loved one and letting them know how happy you are that they’re in your life can spread the feeling between both of you. It will also prove to you, and your mind, that you have many things and people to be thankful for.

Taking it a step further and going to visit someone you care about but haven’t seen in a while can have this same effect. It opens your mind to something more than just what’s going on with you.

There are more personalized options that will also allow you to express gratitude. When you reach the point where it becomes a daily occurrence, you’ll start living life in a different manner.

Challenges will carry less weight in your mind. You’ll begin to notice and appreciate more positive things that happen to you. Your perspective on life in general will change for the better.

The Wrap Up

As you can see, expressing gratitude can have a positive impact on all facets of your life and improve your thinking.

Why think about all of the things you don’t have when you can support yourself instead by being mindful of the blessings that actually exist?

The thoughts you think are rooted in your mind, whether they’re good or bad. We should all strive for good thoughts. This makes the concept of gratitude that much more important.

It all comes down to your attitude and mindset. Sharpening those things, filling them with positivity and thankfulness over negativity and oblivion, will change your life. Your attitude towards life dictates your ability to accomplish important tasks, such as practicing gratitude.

As stated above, it will make the tough things seem more manageable. It’s perspective. It’s realizing that, although things might seem tough sometimes, you have plenty to be thankful for that can offset those feelings.

Express gratitude daily. Reap the benefits.

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” —Zig Ziglar