3 Ways to Practice Gratitude Daily
Dec 16, 2020
3 WAYS TO PRACTICE GRATITUDE DAILY
If you’re wondering what is all the buzz around being grateful every day then today’s episode is for you. We are diving deep into what gratitude is, why it’s important and I’m giving you 3 ways you can put it all into action.
So what is gratitude?
Simply put in my own words, gratitude is a way of giving thanks to the things we appreciate in our life. By definition tho, gratitude is the quality of being thankful; the readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
When we are thankful it’s recognizing all the ways in which our life is blessed and how rich we really are. This can be moments we’ve experienced, people in our lives, material things, our senses, and so much more.
You’re probably thinking, that’s great Heather but what’s the big deal about it? Why do people always push gratitude as the answer to life’s problems? What is so great about it?
Well, I’m glad you’re wondering because I’m here to tell you some very insightful things.
I want you to think of gratitude as the medicine that heals you from the poisons of anger, frustration, negativity, overwhelm. You cannot simultaneously be grateful and feel negative. Our brains just don’t work like that.
So when you go into a place of gratitude where you truly and deeply give thanks to your life, all the negative stuff washes away. You begin to realize all that you have instead of all that you want. This means you live in a place of abundance where everything you could possibly need to feel happy, is already there. And I’m not saying you won’t want or need anything if you practice gratitude. But you will feel a sense of peace that you are enough. You have enough.
When we come from a place of abundance, more than enough, we begin to believe that WE are enough. It’s an opportunity to heal our relationship with ourselves.
I want to give you three ways that you can cultivate more gratitude into your daily life. I personally practice all of these and I think you’ll find it helpful. As always, take what resonates with you and throw the rest out. The best option for you is the one you’ll do.
#1 - Create a Morning Routine
Every morning I wake up, I pay thanks to three things in my life. Some days these are moments that I appreciated, sometimes it’s people who’ve impacted my life and other days it’s just material things. It doesn’t always have to be from the present. You can pay thanks to things in your past as well.
When you begin your day with three things you're grateful for, you are telling yourself that life isn’t so bad. You are giving yourself permission to see that your life, as it is that morning is enough. Gratitude is the remedy you need to feel good about your life you are living.
With that said, let me ask you some hard questions …
How often do you wake up and dread having to get out of bed?
How often do you wake up and hate that you have to go to work?
How often do you wish your life was way different than the one you’re living?
How often have you asked yourself “why does this always happen to me?”
This leads me to my second way to practice gratitude and that is to ground yourself in the present. Change your focus from WHY to WHAT or HOW.
Instead of focusing on HAVING to get out of bed and dreading it, what if you switched your focus that you GET TO get up because you’ve been blessed with another day of being alive. Life is not guaranteed and really any moment could be your last. Give yourself perspective that waking up is a gift.
Instead of focusing on the fact that you HATE your job, what if you decided that your job is a blessing because without it you may struggle financially. You wouldn’t have an income to keep your heat on or put food on your table. While it may not be your ideal job, WHAT could you begin to pursue to improve this area in your life.
Do you see how there is a blessing in really everything?
Instead of focusing on wishing your life was different, you could ground yourself in gratitude by paying thanks to the parts of your life that you are content with.
And lastly, NEVER ask the question “why does this always happen to me?” or “why can’t I [insert your pain/struggle].” So an example might be “why don’t my kids listen?” Or “why can’t I ever lose weight and keep it off?”
When you ask WHY you are sending a signal to your brain to seek reasons. These reasons validate the question. If you’re asking why does this always happen to me then your brain is going to find the reasons why you are a victim.
Ask yourself WHAT and HOW - How can I feel healthy and have great energy? Instead of Why can’t I ever lose weight? Or What can I do to make the process fun while getting healthy?
When you ask WHAT and HOW, you seek solutions.
Solutions help you see blessings. Seeing blessings in a part of being grateful.
Lastly, and probably one of my favorite ways is to implement gratitude by doing it with others. That may look like sharing what you’re thankful for each day on social media. Or when you are with your partner, roommate or friend - talking about why you feel blessed.
For me it was important that I taught my kids from a young age that there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for - no matter how hard or crappy your day has felt. We do this in a fun way with our Gratitude Graphics.
Each month I print out graphic that we all get to color. The image is typically aligned with the month we are entering. For example, my family had the option to color an elf, christmas lights, a tree or a reindeer.
I’m very intentional about the process. We color as a family and talk about what the month will bring - what holidays are ahead or birthdays. We talk about the season we are in and how things change like it will snow and be very cold.
Once all our pictures are colored, we hang them in the dining room. Each night at dinner we go around the table and say at least 1 thing we are grateful for that day. This has been such a fun and eye opening way to be grateful and do it as a family. The kids love it and I appreciate watching them evolve as they learn what blessings they have in their life.
I wrote out our whole system and share it with my email list every first of the month. I believe in this system so much that I give it away. If you want to grab the next one coming out for January, you can easily get on my email list (which is NOT spammy!) and you’ll get a copy.
As I tie up this episode, I want to challenge you to pick something that feels good to you and put it into action. But I’m gonna warn you, you won’t feel the effects of this practice right away. You must continue to do it even when you think it’s all just foo foo. It works and your life will be so much better when you realize you are blessed in every way.
While you may come up with a system or practice of your own, the most important part is to just do it.