Why I practice gratitude
Gratitude is the appreciation of the valuable and meaningful things in our lives. Practicing gratitude was one of the reasons why I started this blog. Gratitude gets thrown around a lot and is often paired with a cliché or two. It doesn’t have to be cringe or airy-fairy. And it certainly doesn’t have to do with your star sign. Gratitude does not mean ignoring the suffering in the world or the difficulties you’re currently experiencing and pretending everything is always good. Instead, it involves acknowledging and accepting both the positive and negative aspects of life and using it as a tool to improve your mental and physical well-being. By regularly practicing gratitude, you are recognising what’s good in your life and the blessings you have. Recognising the good things in life has a significant effect on our overall well-being, including our brain, body, and mental health. Research has shown that those who cultivate gratitude tend to have more positive emotions, better physical health, stronger relationships, and an increased ability to cope with difficult situations.
For me, gratitude is a way to calm my brain and think about the present. It’s something I turn to when life tests me and things are piling up and the weight of the world sits on my shoulders. I’ve noticed a direct correlation to how often I’m practicing gratitude and how the frequency of ‘down’ days I’m having. Practicing gratitude has helped me identify what’s good in my life but also what I truly care about. When I’m journaling and reflecting on my day and I’m highlighting what went well and what I was grateful for, the most common themes that appear are:
- Friends and family.
- New experiences and visiting new places.
- Productive days (at work, personal admin, completing action list).
- Training and running.
The flipside to that is, on the days where I am struggling to think of things to be grateful for it’s usually because I haven’t experienced anything related to one of the above categories. This leads me to seek more of the above. It’s also a reminder for when I do not feel like doing something. If I skip that run, or If I’m tempted to cancel plans because of whatever poor excuse I tell myself at the time, I remind myself that I will regret it later. I have recognised three stages of my gratitude journey:
1. Being grateful for the blessings in my life.
2. Seeking out more to be grateful for.
3. Expressing my gratitude to those around me.
1. Grateful for the blessings in my life
When I first started to practice gratitude, I listed holistic things I was grateful for. This is a great way to get started. I still do this now. I am grateful that both my parents are still alive and being in contact with them both. I am grateful for my job, education, and the people I have met through work. I am grateful to have a fully abled body and being in good health. I am grateful to have a best friend I can confide in and share amazing experiences with. I am grateful to speak one of the most influential languages in the world.
2. Grateful for more
The more I practiced gratitude, the more I learned to appreciate. Over time I have become more specific in what I am grateful for, often being grateful for things that have happened to me in that day. For example, if I have a particularly challenging day at work, I can look back and be grateful for getting through it and handling the situation well. Or if I get out for an early morning walk and I see a beautiful sunrise. This is also the drainers vs. energisers. You notice a pattern of what you are grateful for and can easily expand on, and the things that bring nothing to your life. I’ll often write about a run that I completed, whereas I never write how grateful I am for gossiping with colleagues at work at lunch.
3. Grateful for those around me
This stage is an ongoing journey. One I hope to improve. The more you practice gratitude, you notice a theme. The same handful of people make an appearance. Share it with them. This doesn’t have to be in an obvious way. Appreciate them more. If it’s your partner, take them out to dinner just because. If it’s family, see them more. If it’s a co-worker, buy them a random gift. Whoever it is, and however many people it is, make more of an effort with them.
Regardless of whether one naturally has a tendency towards gratitude or more pessimistic, a mindset of gratitude is a skill that can be learned and developed. The advantages of gratitude accumulate over time. Like anything, I suggest practicing gratitude little and often. Over time, you will learn to appreciate more, get more specific and start searching for new things to be grateful for. You’ll begin to find the positive in all life’s challenges that are thrown your way.