The Power of Gratitude
I didn’t understand how important gratitude was until a few years ago. My coach, Erica, encouraged me to start writing a gratitude list as a consistent practice. I have found so many benefits from it. And I am not talking about the fake Pollyanna gratefulness,. I am talking about the things that you truly are grateful for. Things that you think of and truly appreciate. Not the forced things.
There are days that you will sit down to write a gratitude list and it just flows and you are in a space where your hand can’t keep up with your thoughts. Where you start writing and just keep writing and all the things are so easy to appreciate. You are grateful for the food in your fridge, your spouse, the sunshine, your neighbors, your health, your job, your co-workers, your dry cleaner, the man who helps you at the local deli to make you the perfect sandwich and the awesome breakfast you made that morning. Those days you will be in such a great place that a gratitude list brings you to the next level. Those days are awesome and when you have one, live it so fully!
Then there are the days that you are finding gratitude from a place of pessimism. The day you wake up feel shitty and thinking about things you are grateful for is hard. These are the days where you can be grateful for not yelling at your kids and taking a breath instead, for getting out of bed when you didn’t want to and took the first step to have a cup of coffee and start your day, for going for a walk in replace of a work out because your back hurt and you didn’t go to the gym or when you can be proud that you made it to work on time when you slept through your alarm. Going from pessimism to neutral can be just as important as boosting already positive energy.
So how can you add gratitude to your life?
A few ideas:
Write a letter to someone that you are grateful for
Wrote a list of the Top 10 things that you appreciate
Call someone in your life and thank them
Give an extra tip or write a thank you note to someone you appreciate in the service industry
Set a timer for 1 minute and sit quietly and think of all the things you are grateful for in that moment
Whatever or however you use gratitude in your life, I encourage you to add this to your life- whether it is weekly, bi-weekly or daily. I have found that adding gratitude as a consistent practice in my life has helped me have a more positive mindset.
Grateful for you!