Many families have a Thanksgiving ritual: Before diving into their plates of turkey and fixings, they go around the table and say what they are thankful for. But what if you didn’t wait for Thanksgiving? What if you were thankful all year?
In these tough economic times, with so much scary news coming at people from all angles, it’s hard to find external things that will trigger good feelings. So learn to do it internally. Gratitude makes you feel good.
Increase Your “Gratitude Gradient”
If somebody gave you a new car, would you feel grateful? You bet. Feelings of gratitude blossom naturally when a big gift like that comes into your life. And the feelings are so strong that in the absence of them – those days (most of them) when no one gives you a new car – you may feel like there’s nothing to be grateful for.
But are you breathing? (If not, stop reading right now and dial 9-1-1). Do you have a roof over your head? Are you in a warm place (if it’s winter now) or a cool place (if it’s summer)? These are states most people take for granted. They say, “Of course I’m breathing. I breathe every day. I’m alive, aren’t I?” Well, isn’t that something to be grateful for?
Don’t hold your gratitude for the big things. Be grateful for the small: that penny you found on the sidewalk, the sun streaming in through the window, the comfort of your favorite chair with a good book in your hands. Start up the gratitude gradient with these small things and bigger things will follow.
Start Your Day with Gratitude
- Before you even get out of bed, express your gratitude for three things that happened yesterday and three that will happen today.
- Spend five solid minutes of your day in gratitude – even better if you can do it while walking around, to get the gratitude firmly entrenched in your body.
- If you find yourself with a moment when no one is making demands on your time, take a moment to be grateful (for that, if nothing else).
- If you run out of things to be grateful for, the folks at gratitudeminute.com have a free book you can download, “77 Reasons to Be Grateful Now.”
Tough Times Call for Gratitude
Gratitude is especially important when life gets rough. With people losing jobs, people losing their houses, it’s very easy to focus on loss. But while you may lose some things, you surely have others. Focus on what you DO have – and express your sincere gratitude for it. This puts you in a better position to rebuild your life than if you focus on what you’ve lost and resent the circumstances that got you there.
Consider this: “If the only prayer you said in your life was ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” That’s not new advice. But it’s as true today as it was 700-plus years ago when the philosopher Meister Eckhart first said it.
Thank you for reading this article. Are you grateful you did?
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