Don’t take gratitude for granted!
If someone asked you, “Are you grateful,” most of us would automatically answer yes. It’s easy for us to say we are grateful for our family, possessions, and health, but we often take for granted the millions of other things that we have to be grateful for. Gratitude isn’t just a passing thought, it’s actually a practice that we should intentionally devote time to developing. Developing a daily gratitude practice can help you increase your positive emotions, sleep better, boost your immune system and much, much more.
One of my favorite quotes is “gratitude changes everything.” If you want to make a change in your eating habits, start being grateful for your love of vegetables. Sounds crazy but I tried this and it actually works. I have longed to become a vegetarian for a number of years but always focused on the fact that I couldn’t give up eating my favorite meats like chicken and ribs. Well, two years ago I decided to just be grateful that I grew up eating vegetables and really loved them. I took one small step and decided that it wasn’t about not eating meat, it was about eating more veggies. I would put the vegetables on my plate first leaving the meat for the end, and usually, there was very little room for the meat. Fast forward two years later and I actually prefer vegetarian meals over those with meat. I am grateful for my progress and know that in a short time I will be completely vegetarian.
This principle of gratitude works for any change that you want to make in your life. Being grateful simply brings more positive things to you. If you want to up your gratitude game, I have a couple of suggestions for you. Gratitude journaling is one sure fire way to infuse large doses of gratitude into your life. Just grab a notebook or purchase a journal if you like, and dedicate a few minutes every day to writing down all the things that you are grateful for on that day. Don’t forget the small things like the kindness of a stranger at the grocery store, a delicious salad at lunch or a phone call from a friend.
Another way to develop a gratitude practice is to create a Gratitude jar, write down your moments of gratitude daily and deposit them into the jar. I personally use this strategy and it really helps me to stay in a space of gratitude no matter what’s going on in my life. I keep my jar in my office with a stack of colorful pieces of paper next to it. You can use sticky note paper if you like. Collect your little gratitude notes all year and then review them at the end of the year. You will be amazed at the things you were grateful for over the course of a year. Here’s a picture of my gratitude jar to give you an idea of what it looks like. If you need more detailed instructions on how to create a gratitude jar, click on this link to get instructions from my crafty wife “Creatively Wendy” on her page.
No comments