Cultivating gratefulness enhances your life and will
provide long-term emotional rewards. How
grateful are you for your life, for those around you, for where you live, for
having running water everyday?
We live in an extremely materialistic age. It is standard to expect so much, often too
much. The fact we have and own so much
appears to have an impact on how grateful we actually are. Some of us tend to focus on what we don’t have
at times rather than what we do have.
Imagine what it would be like if you started every
morning being grateful. Grateful for a
wonderful night’s sleep, grateful for a warm bed, grateful for a comfortable
mattress, grateful for being able to sleep in your own room. Wouldn’t that be a positive way to start the
day?
I once heard someone say – don’t wait to have a
wonderful day – start your day in a wonderful way. So why not start your day by being grateful
from the moment you wake up.
Imagine the impact it would have on those around you
if you show true gratitude. You would be
the person they aspire to be. As we get
older, we do tend to be more grateful, grateful for our health, our family, our
friends, good food, at times even a sunny day. When we are grateful, we magnify our positive
emotions.
The impact this attitude of gratitude would have on
your children or grandchildren and generally the people around you would create
an incredible ripple. You would be
leading by example in such a positive way.
Gratitude is about appreciation; it is recognising the
small details around you that are special. We take so much for granted. We start to appreciate ‘the little things’. You start to see good in so many places. Living your life being grateful means that in so
many small ways, everyday will be a positive experience.
Keeping a gratitude journal is a fantastic idea as it
allows you to spend time each day thinking about what you can appreciate in
your life. Oprah Winfrey once said:
“If you look at what you
have in life,
you'll always have more.
If you look at what you don't have in life,
you'll never have enough.”
So why not spread the gratitude and teach others
around you how to be grateful. Lead by example;
start to send thank you notes to friends for small things. It could be a call, a text or an email.
Display gratitude and thankfulness to those around you
often. The more people that hear and experience your appreciation, the bigger
the ripple effect.
The bonus is that the more you display appreciation
and gratitude, the more you will experience and notice the small things that we
do for others. At times, if we let it,
our life can feel hectic and we can reach our capacity and then comes overwhelm;
however, when we stop, take a moment to enjoy the present that is when we can
see, feel and experience, all the wonderful things and people that surround us
every day.
Promoting this is promoting life. Live your life everyday with an attitude of
gratitude.
