The advantages of practicing gratitude are almost endless. Most people who regularly practice gratitude by reflecting on the things, they are thankful for have a better immune system. They express more compassion, sleep better, feel more alive, and experience more positive emotions. You need to understand that gratitude isn’t just reserved for momentous occasions.
There is no doubt you may express gratitude after you receive a promotion at work. But you can still express the same feeling when you receive a free treat such as pizza or pie. Remember that a life well-lived is one that’s filled with gratefulness every day. If you are looking to have more appreciation in your daily life. Here are a few practical ways on how to practice gratitude:
Learn How to Practice Mindfulness
If you want to practice gratitude, you should sit down and think about five or ten things you’re thankful for. To do so, you need to picture it in your mind and sit with that feeling in your body. This will help train your brain to be naturally thankful, and after every session, you will begin feeling happy. In most cases, it will take about eight weeks of gratitude practice before you start living with gratitude and showing changed brain patterns that indicate greater happiness and empathy.
Learn to Keep a Gratitude Journal
After every mindful session, you should take note of every positive thought. By keeping a journal of the things you are thankful for, it’s a lot easier to keep track and refer to your life’s positive aspects. As you note your positive thoughts, it’s crucial that you consciously think about what you are writing without other ungrateful, distracting thoughts. You can journal after your gratitude practice, or you can do this on a regular schedule (monthly or weekly). Listing of things you are grateful for every day is training your mind to make it a habit and eventually becomes an attitude to develop.
Take Part in Volunteer Work
Living with gratitude doesn’t only mean being thankful for what you received and keeping it in yourself. One way to practice gratitude is to extend help to others as a way of spreading gratefulness in every heart. One of the ways to have more gratitude is by giving back to the local community. This won’t just help to increase gratitude for some of the things you take for granted; it also improves your overall well-being, and ultimately your ability to be more grateful every day.
Find Gratitude in Your Shortcomings
It took both good and bad things or experiences to be grateful every day in order to live with gratitude. Most people believe that gratitude is all about being thankful for their positive experiences in life, but this is usually not the case. In some cases, thinking about difficult or negative situations can help you pinpoint what you’ve got to be thankful for. To achieve this, you have to dig deeper into your past experiences and try figuring out how they have helped to shape the person you are today.
Final Thoughts
Being more grateful every day in life means allowing yourself to be contented and happier, and more satisfied with everything around you. The only shortcoming is that there are a lot of stressors and anxiety around you. So, If you want to be more grateful every day, this guide should help you learn how to be thankful and live with gratitude.