What does gratitude have to do with anything?
Gratitude is a powerful emotion capable of making you feel better about yourself. It has the ability to shift negative thoughts that distort your reality into feelings of self-acceptance and pride. Being thankful for the good things in your life helps you focus on the positives, which puts you in an enhanced and healthy frame of mind. It helps boost your self-assurance, promote exhilaration and overall well-being.
By taking the time to acknowledge your blessings, you will be happy, and happiness leads to a more positive outlook and higher self-image. Indeed, when you are happy, your body releases dopamine and serotonin. These are the hormones responsible for making us feel good, enhancing our mood and making us feel joy.
When life is good and things organically fall into place, it’s quite effortless to count your blessings and radiate optimism. Anticipating the wonderful day ahead brings excitement and joy. If every day started on such a positive note, it would be the perfect scenario. In reality though, every day out of the year probably won’t present you with rainbows and unicorns.
So, how do you embrace gratitude when you don’t feel so wonderful?
I know firsthand how challenging it can be to find gratitude on low-spirited days. Sometimes I just wake up on the wrong side of the bed with a negative frame of mind. I open my eyes and immediately revert back to what didn’t quite work out yesterday or the weeks and months before. These unresolved and nagging thoughts often leave me feeling out of sorts. It is so easy, and for the moment convenient, for me to succumb to negativity and allow those thoughts and emotions define how I approach the rest of my day.
If I allow myself to start the day with such pessimism, the most trivial things set me off. I become tense and lose patience far too easily. Accidentally dropping a bag of blueberries on the kitchen floor or finding a tiny stain on a blouse I am wearing becomes catastrophic. If I dwell on these minor inconveniences and allow myself to become agitated, the rest of my day usually gravitates towards negativity and frustration. It’s like I am subconsciously sabotaging the rest of my day and setting myself up to have feelings of self-pity and defeat.
If, on the other hand, I immediately stop my negativity from consuming me and take ownership of my thoughts, I become empowered and in control. So, what is the one thing that helps me overcome these emotional obstacles?
Gratitude.
Gratitude is the key to happiness
I know for sure there are countless things I have to be grateful for. So, on those more challenging mornings, I take deep breaths and extra time to acknowledge and appreciate all the beauty in my life.
Perhaps I focus on my devoted husband and the joyful life we created together. I often think about my 92-year-old dad and how much I treasure our time together. Maybe I look out the window and merely appreciate the beautiful nature that surrounds me. I can always find things to be grateful for, even something as simple as a nice, sunny day. Taking the time to appreciate all that I have sets the stage for a positive and productive day.
You can truly find gratitude in the simplest things just by developing awareness to what surrounds you. And when you view your surroundings with positivity, it encourages you to observe yourself with the same optimism and see yourself in a more accurate and forgiving light. With practice, conscious effort and commitment you will gradually learn to shift your focus and appreciate the gifts in your life.
The next time you wake up in the morning and feel gloomy, try diffusing that mindset by thinking of three things in your life that you are grateful for. Once you have established those thoughts, close your eyes, take some slow, deep breaths and meditate on them for a while. Try to absorb the feelings and emotions that arise. You will likely feel a sense of calmness and optimism that will follow you throughout your day. If you start to feel that negativity re-surfacing as the day progresses, take a moment and remind yourself of the goodness in your life. Continuously repeating this ritual will guide you towards filtering out the negative and replacing it with the positive.
By adopting this practice, you will gain a fresh perspective and welcome your days with a new and positive light leading you to a life of equanimity and peace.