GRATITUDE
"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing
for granted, but to always seek out and value the kindness that will
stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of
course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed
at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the
expression of gratitude." -- Albert Schweitzer
The relationship between our thoughts, moods, brain chemistry, and the functioning of all other systems in our bodies is complex. Our thoughts can and actually do trigger changes in our body that affect our mental and physical well being. What we think affects how we feel (both emotionally
and physically). By increasing our positive thoughts, like
gratitude, we can increase our over all well-being.
It is very simple for us to increase our experience and
expression of gratitude, it just takes a little bit of practice. Albert Schweitzer notes in his above
quotation about gratitude, that increasing our conscious awareness of
gratitude may require that we train ourselves to think differently. We
can do this by incorporating some simple exercises into our lives.
- Gratitude journals can take many forms, but one
way of doing this is to simply write down one thing that you are
grateful for each day. It can be something that happened that day, something you felt, or someone in your life who has made a positive impact on you. People who keep gratitude journals have been found live a more active and healthy lifestyle, feel better
about their lives as a whole, and feel more optimistic about their day and
upcoming week as oppose to those who don't.
- Daily discussion of gratitude results in higher levels of
alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, energy, and better quality of sleep. Grateful people also report lower levels of
depression and stress, although they do not deny or ignore the negative
aspects of life.
- People who think, talk, or write about gratitude daily
are more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem
or offered emotional support to another person.
- People with disposition towards gratitude are found to place less
importance on material goods, are less likely to judge their own or
others success in terms of possessions accumulated, are less envious of
wealthy people, and are more likely to share their possessions with
others.
Express
gratitude. Engage a friend or romantic partner in a daily
discussion about what you are grateful for. This might take the form of
questions like, "What was the best part of your day today?", or "What is
one thing that made you feel really happy today?" This kind of
discussion not only helps to increase your own awareness of all that you
have to be grateful for, but can also promote positive connection and
experiences in your relationship with whomever you choose to have these
exchanges.
For example, instead of having dinner with a friend or
partner and talking about all the stresses of your day, this kind of
discussion leads you both to focus on the positive things, which in turn
helps the stresses feel less significant, and helps you feel happier
when around your friend or partner. Basically, gratitude promotes
gratitude.
If you find that you're very busy and unable to stick to a regular
gratitude practice, train yourself to notice things, in
the moment, that you are thankful for. They can be small things: maybe
you notice that your bed is very comfortable, that traffic was moving on your way to work, that your lunch is tasty,
that a good friend said something nice to you, etc. It is easy to take
these kinds of experiences for granted and not direct our conscious
awareness to them. Train yourself to notice these kinds of things
and really feel grateful for them. This will help increase your own experience
of happiness.
Whatever
you think about or talk about will be drawn into your life. Thinking about what you are grateful for will draw more of that to
you. This is the Law of Attraction.
Go ahead and adopt this recipe for your success:
Gratitude + Positive Affirmation + Visualization + Application = Manifestation.
Nicole Larissa Nelson
@coachedbycoco
