(Published in the Spiritually Speaking column of The Daily Guardian on February 8, 2021)
Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.
— Oprah Winfrey.
Practising the attitude of gratitude can and will change your life! Many times people keep complaining about things that they don’t have or things that they don’t like or things that are happening to them that they are not happy about. Oftentimes we complain about things, many times. But it is very important for us to show gratitude.
We are hopefully in the last phase of a global pandemic. If you are reading this article that means you are alive and that you have survived. That in itself is reason to be thankful. We must always thank God for everything that we have and in that thanking, more blessings will come.
If we keep complaining all the time—I don’t have this or I don’t have that—things become more difficult. You become more and more unsatisfied with yourself and your surroundings and that unsatisfaction or dissatisfaction, creates negative vibrations or negative energy. It creates resentments. It creates jealousy. It creates all sorts of things that are not positive in nature.
We have all heard the saying “I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet”. This is something that makes us realise that we have a lot to be thankful for and things could have been worse. Constantly complaining or self-pitying is very negative and creates negative energy that blocks and diminishes our progress.
On the other hand, when we are grateful and thankful, it creates positive vibrations and positive energy. It makes us see things more clearly and makes us thankful for the things that we have in our life.
If you ever feel that you don’t have what you are looking for, always count the blessings that you have. Do you have a family? Do you have good health? Do you have a home? Do you have a job or a business? If you have any of these things, you are better off than many other people in the world.
When we take the time to focus on all the good in our lives, from the people we love to our most treasured possessions, we become happier and more positive people. And when you’re living and acting in positivity and happiness, you have the ability to impact the people around you to do the same.
Positivity breeds positivity. Showing gratitude feels good but on a deeper level, gratitude has the very real ability to positively affect your physical health for the better. Think about the last time you felt happy and positive. Whether you took a deep breath of fresh air or cuddled your baby after a long day, chances are these little moments of happiness not only made you feel more optimistic, but more energetic and productive as well. When you’re feeling grateful, positive, and happy, your brain and body are more efficient. You feel good physically because you feel good mentally.
Even in the darkest moments of our lives, it is possible to find goodness. It is in these moments that it is the most important to be grateful. At such times, it is sometimes difficult to see the silver lining of the dark clouds. Negative thoughts and attitude breeds more negativity and this can consume a person. With effort, we can overcome these moments of negativity. Practicing gratitude can help us to overcome negativity and become happy and positive again.
Be grateful and thankful and let your thankfulness towards God be a way for you to realise how blessed you are and how much life needs to be celebrated and needs to be enjoyed and use that positive vibration to bring positive vibrations in the world. Gratitude shall multiply things even further for you. And even if you don’t have something right now, work towards it in a positive way, being thankful for every moment along the way. Do not be jealous of people who have the things you want. Celebrate others success and soon success will come knocking at your door. Celebrate others happiness and soon happiness will come knocking at your door.
Some things you can do to make gratitude your daily routine:
Express gratitude to yourself. Expressing gratitude to others starts with accepting yourself. Practice saying thank you to yourself for who you are. While doing so, look deep into your eyes in a mirror.
Practise gratitude affirmations. Saying, ‘’I’m thankful for …’’, to everything that surrounds you is a great and easy way to focus on appreciation. Use the affirmations every day to strengthen the power of a gratitude journal.
Keeping a gratitude journal. A gratitude journal is one of the most useful techniques for practicing gratitude. Spending a few minutes in the morning or evening reflecting upon the things you are grateful for will bring a lot of benefits to your well-being. According to research, regularly taking reflections on moments you are grateful for can improve satisfaction and your psychological health.
Say “Thank you” to your meal. Taking things for granted, sometimes we forget that many people on this planet are starving and suffering from hunger. If you can choose what to eat for breakfast, lunch or supper, you are very lucky and that’s why you should express your gratitude for the food you are going to eat.
Begin and end your day with gratitude. In order for us to focus on our achievements, it is important to engage in daily self-reflection every morning. This helps in letting our creative juices flow and keeps us energetic throughout the day and also helps in getting a good sleep at night.
Compliment others every day. Compliments can make other people feel good. Telling someone about his or her good qualities will make both the receiver and giver of the compliment happy. Practice giving at least one sincere compliment a day!
Make a habit of thank you. We say thank you to our colleagues and others, but sometimes we forget to do it for our family. Make saying “thank you” a habit and use it for noticing even little things you get used to taking for granted.
Celebrate the moment. Finally, enjoy every moment you live and be grateful for the good things that happen to you. Take at least a few minutes a day to stop and enjoy the beauty of nature and other things around you.
You can think of gratitude as an emotion or mental state, but whatever you might choose, gratitude is something that will bring you closer to a better well-being.
Being grateful, especially in the tough moments, isn’t something that is always easy to do. But if you learn to make gratitude a habit, you will have an impact that spans wider and longer than you could have ever imagined.