Being Grateful is Good For You

What is Gratitude?

There are many ways to describe gratification, but keeping it simple means being grateful for everything you have. The idea is that everything happens in divine timing, so be thankful for everything you have even when you don’t have all that you want yet. It’s important to practice gratitude because this is such pure energy. In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” — Anonymous.

This characteristic is overlooked at times since it’s easy to get lost in the pace of life. Being appreciative is challenging during these times, but that’s why it’s beautiful to appreciate the little things around you. Everything is a blessing when you look at like from the glass-half-full perspective. Gratitude means thankfulness, counting your blessings, noticing simple pleasures, and acknowledging everything you receive. It means learning to live your life as if everything were a miracle and continuously knowing how much you’ve received. All that happens is within your destiny, so practice gratitude because you’re right where you’re supposed to be. Be grateful for life and every step of the journey.

Photo by Mariana Montrazi from Pexels

Mental Stimulation

Becoming more grateful gives you an addicting mental stimulation that causes you to want things that will stimulate you naturally; mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially. The ability to reflect on a moment you appreciate will increase your memory levels, which is impressive and helpful. The little things over time organically improve your lifestyle and way of thinking. It’s vital to expose yourself to different ways of thinking in various categories. When practicing gratitude, you can ask yourself questions like: what is my favorite thing about myself/my life? What is a straightforward thing I appreciate? Another way to practice gratitude is to write affirmations. I will show a picture of my written assurances. These can change by the day because you find new things to appreciate once you write about something you are grateful to have.

How Can I Practice Gratitude?

Here are 5 Simple Ways:

1. Start a Journal — I promise, having a journal (and using it) will be one of the best things you ever do for yourself. I don’t only say that because I’m a writer, I say that journaling gives you the space to dump your thoughts on the page. Even if you’re more modern, I consider that helpful if you’re not distracted whatsoever. Nothing feels purer than paper and pencil, though. I could go on about the benefits of having a journal, but I’ll save that for another article.
2. Say “please & thank you” — This in itself is just a polite thing to do and what goes around comes around. Even if other people don’t match your energy, it still shows your integrity.
3. Show Genuine Interest — When you’re out somewhere or doing something, don’t be afraid to be tapped into what’s going on. Look at the lovely view of your city, notice the leaves growing for spring, look at someone’s outfit or maybe even tell them what you like about it.
4. As previously mentioned, write affirmations! — I love the act of writing affirmations because when you’re consistent with it (yes, sometimes I fall off too, don’t worry, keep going), you start recognizing who you are as a person and see your everyday minuscule thoughts over time. I highly recommend writing affirmations.
5. Watch your language — as we all know, words have so much power. Make sure you always say what you mean and mean what you say. I’m sure there has been a time when you said something you wish you didn’t. That’s okay, though, because it’s in the past and all you can do is make sure you practice positive thinking + speaking from here on out.

Delayed Gratification

A huge part of being thankful for everything you have at the moment adds to what’s coming to you later. An example of delaying gratification is avoiding distraction, staying self-motivated, and having a solid connection with why the goal is essential are critical examples of delaying gratification in favor of long-term achievement. This skill allows you to be present and make the best decisions knowing that the greater good is coming later. Many people don’t reach goals because they don’t practice discipline in different aspects of life. I, too, have struggled with discipline, but once I started to meditate more and become more present, it’s seemed like my mind was natural. What exactly is self-discipline? It’s the ability to control your impulses, emotions, reactions, and behaviors; it allows you to forego short-term gratification in favor of long-term satisfaction and gain. Keeping yourself disciplined will help you understand that everything you do in the present moment will have been for the greater good.

Keeping Momentum

It’s one thing to be grateful and learn to discipline yourself enough to understand the delayed gratification. But the most challenging part is keeping the momentum. For example, people talk about their New Year’s resolution for the first few weeks or months of the year, and then they eventually return to their old habits. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but many people find the escapisms to fill the voids or distract them from steps they could be taking to better themselves. Everyone has their vices, but it’s all about whether or not you’re willing to work on yourself every day, little by little. An excellent way to keep your momentum is to connect your challenge to its purpose. Thinking about a ‘why’ in every decision is essential. Even if you don’t explain it to anyone else, you should know why for yourself because if not, then you’ll do things without intention.

Why Be Grateful?

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” — Henry Ward Beecher.

Learning gratitude keeps you humble for everything you have. No matter how much you gain or lose, you’ll always find the simplest things to appreciate. That’s important. Additionally, gratefulness unintentionally stimulates your mind, which sparks curiosity. It can be an addictive feeling because once you get that mental stimulation, you want to do more that will give you that feeling, so be grateful. I’m saying this repeatedly because it takes a while to understand fully. Gratitude is an activity I am still practicing every day because I realize how easy it is to be unimpressed. In reality, we should be shocked and amazed at how we’re able to live, even while going through what seems to be the most challenging times.

You can practice gratitude easily every day by journaling, saying please and thank you, showing genuine interest in the present moment, and writing affirmations. These tasks will help you see how much the little things mean to you. This article also discussed delayed gratification, which makes your journey much more enjoyable when you realize the ending result will be much worth the challenges in between.

Overall, this article aims to inform my friends that being grateful makes life much more enjoyable. It’s so easy to be more relaxed when you’re just thankful for each moment you experience. I hope you learned something from reading this article; please feel free to share your thoughts on gratitude.

Always,

Sunny J.