What are you grateful for?
Being grateful is about appreciating what you have, as opposed to what you want. Being thankful or thanking someone often implies you are acknowledging your thanks for something that someone has given you, however, gratefulness happens at a much deeper level and has feelings attached to it.
Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness, and helps you feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve your health, deal with adversity, and build stronger relationships.
How can you practice gratitude?
Notice good things, look for them, appreciate them. Savour, absorb, and really pay attention to those good things. Express your gratitude to yourself, write it down, or thank someone.
Try to think about what you’re thankful for at least once a day. If you begin to prioritise gratitude and recognise the things you appreciate most, eventually it will become second nature.
In light of small successes and simple acts of kindness, here are a few ways to show gratitude every day:
Write in a Gratitude Journal:
Purchase a small notebook and keep it in your bag, or on your bedside table. Take a few minutes each day to write down one or two positive experiences, or, alternatively, write down what you’re grateful for at the end of each week.
Include small acts of kindness: a stranger who paid for your coffee, someone who held the door open for you or a phone call or note of appreciation from a friend, client or colleague.
If you don’t write down these small moments of happiness, they will be easily forgotten. When you keep a journal, you can look back and remember how much you have to be thankful for during the times when life doesn’t seem to be going your way.
Express your gratitude in person:
When a friend, colleague or client goes above and beyond, be sure to verbalise your appreciation. Go to their office or treat them to lunch or a quick cup of coffee.
Make it a point to interact with others as much as possible. When you make time for those who are important to you personally, or your business, the lasting impression that it leaves can be endlessly rewarding.
Show respect for those around you:
Treat others with the same level of courtesy you expect to receive: smile, show kindness, exhibit patience and listen.
For instance, the next time you make a coffee run in the morning, offer to bring back coffee for someone else. If you see someone running toward the elevator, hold the door.
You know how nice it feels when someone takes a few moments to show kindness. Be that person to someone else.
Don’t complain:
When something terrible happens, it’s natural to want to complain about it. You may become impatient with someone in line who takes too long to pay, or you may complain to yourself when a driver cuts you off in traffic.
But every time you complain, you reinforce a negative state of mind without offering a solution to the problem at hand. Instead, next time you feel frustrated, take a few deep breaths and try focusing on something positive.
Volunteer in your community:
There’s a well-known secret among long-time volunteers: an act of kindness does more good for you than those you’re serving.
If you’re short on time, choose a volunteer opportunity that requires only an hour or two each month. Volunteering gives you something positive to focus on and is a great way to give back to the community at large.
Some things to be grateful for:
- Your good health.
- Having access to fresh nutritious produce
- that you are able to move your body everyday
- Living in such a beautiful city