We’re far more ungrateful than we think.
But wait! I’m sure I said thank you to the person that served me coffee today…I think.
Oh Yeah.. That person that pressed the button on the elevator today… No I didn’t say thank you. They took to long to press the button.
Unless you are currently have a Daily Gratitude Practice. I would be surprised if you could quickly come up with five things that you were grateful for.
You Need To Work Your Gratitude Muscle.
Just like a muscle gratitude needs to be exercised. A person whose arm is seriously injured and put in a cast for many months, cant even lift up a fork to eat, or a rose to smell. Without a proper sense of gratitude unnecessary gloominess can be a struggle to lift.
The benefit of cultivating a gratitude mindset is that you begin to see that, the things you have far outweigh the things that you feel you are lacking.
When you practice gratitude even setbacks in life can become opportunities for gratitude and growth.
There a so may stories by people that have had emotional/physical/financial setbacks in their life and they have used it as catalysts for growth. But in order to to that they had to first be grateful for the things they had.
Four Tips For Becoming More Grateful
1. Keep A Gratitude Journal – Every night write down the things that you are grateful for. Start with five things and work your way up to 20 or more.
2. Think Of What You Wouldn’t Give Up – Frustrated that you can’t afford that new car? Well would you give up your hand for it? How about an eye (you have two)? What about your taste buds? You can still eat right? You get the point. What you wouldn’t give up, you can be grateful for.
3. Favorite Part Of The Day – I use this as a spiritual practice with my children. At night before they go to sleep I will ask them what was your favorite part of the day. My son might say riding his bike. So I ask him. What can you thank G-d for? And he will say things like. “Thank you G-d for my bicycle, my feet to pedal, my hands to hold the handlebars, my eyes to see where I am going, for the asphalt.
Think of your favorite part of your day and the things required to make it possible, and there are your things to be grateful for.
4. In The Moment Gratitude – Try throughout the day to just stop and be grateful for the things that you have right at that moment. An example might be. Right now you are reading this post. You can be grateful for your eyes so you can read, you can be grateful for the muscles that let you move your eyes all around. Grateful for proper blood flow so your eyes can function properly, a lens that focuses properly so you can read. Grateful for eyelids that protect your eyes and keep them moist. And if you have glasses. Grateful for a nose to hold up your glasses.
Happy people are productive people, that lead rich lives. Happy people often have a well developed sense of gratitude. Lets go for the richness of life.
I wold like this to become a post were people can come back and see all the things that people in the world are grateful for.
Before you move on please take a moment to share a few things that you are grateful for. And when ever you need a pick me up I hope you can come back here to read a growing list of all the things that we can be thankful for in our lives.
Thank You.
Click Here And Share What You Are Thankful For
