Gratitude is a word we all hear often. It’s a strong feeling of being grateful and appreciative. It’s the quality of being thankful and a readiness to show appreciation for someone or something. It’s also a willingness to return kindness. Synonyms include words such as appreciation, appreciativeness, and thankfulness.
The word gratitude comes from the Latin word gratus, which means “thankful and pleasing”. Those who live their lives with an attitude and posture of gratitude are more pleasing to be around. These individuals live happier and more joyful lives.
The opposite of gratitude is ungratefulness, thanklessness, and unappreciation. Individuals who live their lives in this state of mind are more likely to take people and blessings for granted. The quality of life for people that don’t feel grateful or express thankfulness is poor.
Is gratitude a super tool to transform your life??
Yes!!
It is scientifically proven that people who practice gratitude on a regular basis are happier and healthier physically, mentally, and emotionally. Think about it. You can’t be thankful and stressed at the same time. Gratitude magnifies positive emotions and an overall sense of contentment, satisfaction, and well-being. Being grateful helps us cast out our negative vibes, and replaces them with true inner joy. When we look at life through a lens of gratitude we see abundance not lack. We start to recognize and enjoy small pleasures as much as large ones. Gratitude helps us see and acknowledge the good in people around us, fostering appreciation for others and helping us develop stronger healthier relationships in our lives.
People who live life practicing gratitude daily tend to be more elated, excited, and alert. They sleep better, and tend to be more successful in life. They are more disciplined and more accomplished overall. While people who don’t are more tired, sad, and lethargic. They limit themselves and their growth by drowning in a pool of negativity and self-destruction. They tend to be apathetic, dissatisfied, and disappointed.
With all the awesome benefits of practicing gratitude, why aren’t people practicing it in their lives daily??
For the same reason people don’t drink enough water, exercise often enough, or eat healthy. Gratitude takes practice, commitment, discipline, and focus. You have to be intentional and put a conscious effort into recognizing the things in your life you have to be thankful for and take time to process them and reflect on them. Many people start, but quickly become distracted by life, or disengaged when they do not see immediate results. At times practicing gratitude can feel more like a chore than a life changing super tool.
How can we keep our practice fresh and exciting??
Change it up often. Just like exercising, if you do the same thing every single day your body and mind become board. However, if you change up the routine often, it helps your body and mind stay focused, and it keeps your workouts fresh and engaging. This applies to gratitude too. Looking for new things to be thankful for every day is key.
How can I start practicing gratitude in my own life??
Write It Down:
One of the most popular ways to practice gratitude is by keeping a gratitude journal. Your journal can be super simple or you can go all out. It’s up to you. I keep my gratitude notes in a small note book I purchased at the Mighty Dollar store. I do have my eye on a really nice journal now that I’ve established a daily practice, and I’m feeling some of the benefits listed above in my own life.
Journaling may seem mundane, boring, or like a lot of effort, BUT this practice gives you a lot of flexibility. You can simply reflect on 5-10 things you are grateful for each day and write them down. You could also look up a list of gratitude prompts and work through each one. This helps you focus on something new to be thankful for every day.
Another important tip is not to over generalize your thankfulness. You need to be detailed and to be specific. In essence, don’t be lazy. I know that may seem harsh, but you are going to get out of this exactly what you put into it. It was proven that people who write down one thing they are thankful for each day, but then add five additional sentences of detail, get the most gratification out of their gratitude practice.
For example: I am thankful for my husband.
- I am thankful that he is a hard worker and provides well for our family. He goes above and beyond each week to make sure we are financially secure.
- I am thankful that he always checks to see if I need anything several times a day. He is kind and thoughtful.
- I am thankful that we laugh often. Tease each other still, and flirt shamelessly. I am so very thankful for our marriage.
- He is hot! I’m thankful for that. I love his confidence.
- He loves hard. He loves me and he loves our girls. He pours into people around him. He is our protector. He is our leader. He means the world to me!
Just writing down I’m thankful for my husband, isn’t enough. But writing down all those details truly nurtured a greater level of appreciation and thankfulness within me, and it only took a few minutes.
Go through your day looking for and acknowledging small things that bring you joy and happiness. Look for love, look for beauty, look for personal growth, look for victory, look for peace, look for God’s goodness and favor. Look for the ways you saw God be gracious to you. Something amazing starts to happen when you start looking for these things within your life, you start to see more of them!
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
-Isaiah 30:18
I keep a running list of things I feel thankful for throughout my day in the Notes section of my phone. Recording them as they pop up so I don’t forget them.
If the idea of having to add one more thing to your list of things to-do is overwhelming right now, skip writing them down. Just try to spend 5 full minutes thinking about things you have to be grateful for. Do it every time you brush your teeth, get in the shower, or maybe on the way to work or on your way home.
Try your hardest to make it a consistent daily habit.
Say Thank You:
Sending thank you notes or text messages is another awesome way to practice thankfulness in your day. There is something very special and powerful about actively acknowledging those who have helped you. Or just letting the people you are thankful for in your life know it. It makes them feel valued and appreciated, and leaves you feeling awesome as well. Those five things I wrote down about my husband above were later forwarded directly to him in a text message while he was at work. He loved it.
We should also remember to say thank you to God for all of the wonderful blessings we receive throughout the day.
‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, and understanding. -Alice Walker
Involve Your Family:
Practicing gratitude as a family can keep it fresh and fun. I never know what my eight year old’s response is going to be. Yesterday she was thankful for her pink slime with sparkles, and the day before she was thankful for having Jesus in her heart. Bottom line, our kids are never to young to start thinking about things they are grateful for in their own lives. Dinner time is a great time to get a conversation going about gratitude.
The benefits we receive from practicing gratitude are amazing!
Gratitude really is a super tool to transform your life.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. -Melody Beattie
The truth is we are all crazy busy. Life is hard, really hard. In certain seasons it may feel like there is very little in our lives to be thankful for, but that’s never true. We always have something to be grateful for, we may just need to look deeper on some days. This is exactly how we cast out the negative vibes, and build a tract record of good things to look back on.
I don’t want to go through my life taking it or the people around me for granted. I don’t want to only appreciate the big moments. I want to enjoy all of the little moments too. The small things like the perfect cup of hot tea sweetened with honey. My daughters hugs first thing in the morning. The way the sunrise looks on my morning run. God’s beautiful creation often fills me with an immeasurable sense of gratitude. My husbands laughter when I try to be funny, but fail. Long conversations with my baby sister. The Happy Hour podcast with Jamie Ivey. A clean kitchen in the morning. The smell of hot fresh coffee. The sound of my daughter’s laughter on game night. The feeling of super soft blankets and fuzzy socks.
I want to experience it all in the present. I want to live in the small moments. I want to live the good life, and it turns out it’s all around me. I just have to take the time to notice it and appreciate it. I want all these things for your life too. Having a heart aligned towards appreciation and thankfulness is how we make it happen.
If you would like to get started practicing gratitude today, I invite you to join me on Facebook. The Letting His Light Shine community is currently working our way through 30 days of gratitude during the month of November. I post a scripture and a gratitude prompt each evening. It is super simple, and we would love to have you! Just click here!
You can also read through the Praise and Gratitude series from last November right here.
And if you’re wondering how you can work in a gratitude practice daily, I can help. Click here for an Exceptional Morning Routine that includes time for gratitude.
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As always your thoughts and comments are welcome!! Connecting is so important in forming Godly relationships!
I love these ideas- between writing it down, actually thanking others, and involving our families. I’ve been thinking so much on the effects of gratitude this month and you expressed it so perfectly and practically in this post!
Thank you Katie!