Gratitude is the one thing that can truly transform your life for the better and bring hope, happiness, and satisfaction to you. Gratitude helps you look at the positive and enjoy good living even when life is challenging. According to William Arthur Ward, “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
Let's dig deeper to understand the power of gratitude and how it can improve the quality of our life.
Improves Mental Health
Gratitude helps develop the ability to look at life from a positive angle, which further helps develop mental toughness. Positivity replaces toxic emotions which help keep the mind clearer and more optimistic, thereby leading to a sustainable form of happiness as you learn to see the glass as being half full instead of half empty.
Increases Confidence
Gratitude teaches you not to waste time on regrets and feeling sad and sorry for yourself. Start being grateful for the abilities and qualities that you do have and watch your confidence soar.
Improves Self-Esteem
The power of gratitude allows you to cherish and be content with who you are and what you have. It makes you feel comfortable in your skin, and content about your life which ultimately improves self-esteem.
Gives You Long-Lasting Happiness
By showing gratitude you can achieve sustainable happiness in your life because it is not based on external factors. It comes from within. It is your positive attitude that trains your mind to stay positive at all times and that's what helps turn the frown upside down into a smile on your face.
How to Unlock the Power of Gratitude?—Ways to Practice and Cultivate it
Now that you know the power of being grateful, it's time to show you the many ways that you can try to practice it:
Maintain a Gratitude Journal
According to the Emmons research study, those individuals who write a couple of lines about the things they are grateful for tend to feel more positive and sleep better.
So get a notebook and start writing 2 to 3 things at least that you're grateful about. Do this regularly.
Think and Talk Positive
Studies have identified that people who complain often are also victims of anxiety and depression. Their habit of complaining is linked to the fact that they focus on the negative side of the picture and not the positive. They'd rather think and talk about regrets, resentments, and frustrations.
Gratitude has a different language. People who are grateful talk more about positive and happy things such as abundance and blessings. Therefore, if you want to keep yourself happy and content, then practice gratitude by being watchful of your lingo. Try to think of happy thoughts and choose your words wisely when you speak. Instead of complaining, try to find something positive to talk about.
Say Thank You
Another way to practice gratitude is to say thank you or express it through kind gestures. For instance, if you are truly grateful to have your spouse in your life, then let them know. Express your gratitude through kind gestures like hugging them or getting them a present. You can also express your gratitude to friends and colleagues at work by sending them a thank you card or a note for helping you in some job-related task.
It's true that these are not big gestures, but they can undoubtedly have a big impact on the lives of both you and the person you're showing gratitude to. That's right; it can put a smile on your friend's face and make a world of a difference in your life too, by surrounding you with positive energy and thoughts.
Silence Your Inner Critic
To practice and cultivate gratitude, you need to put your inner critic to rest by quieting the negative thoughts that have the power to turn you against yourself and the people you love. If you have a habit of thinking and perceiving things, people and situations negatively then you really need to let it go.
Silence your inner critic by being grateful to people, and the Universe. Become aware of the destructive voice within you and shut it out as soon as it starts to plague your thoughts. Shape and train your mind to think positive. Actively work to integrate positive and happy experiences in your brain in order for the positive to stick and the beneficial effects to endure.
Try Gratitude Meditation
This is a simple yet very powerful happiness intervention. It is a type of meditation that predominantly focuses on expressing gratitude. You do this by reflecting on all the things and people in your life that you are thankful for. It works the same way as the regular meditation process. All you have to do is sit up straight in a peaceful setting and close your eyes to maintain focus.
Now consider things and people that enrich your life and start being thankful for them. If you practice it daily, you'll start to develop a sense of gratitude, and looking at everything, every day and every situation in your life from a positive perspective—making your life beautiful and worth being thankful for.
Final Thoughts
Stress, negative energy, and emotional turmoil can get the best of you. All the negativity around you can shape you into a bitter person who does nothing but criticizes people, regret, resent, and complain—overlooking at the things that the Universe has blessed you with. The negative thoughts and energy surrounding you can take a toll on your life, and wreak havoc by damaging you physically, mentally and emotionally. But you can easily avoid all this, if only you learn to express gratitude and be thankful for what you have. Remember that gratitude is the best way to make sense of the past, bring peace to your present and create a vision for your tomorrow.
Stay happy and grateful.
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