5 Ways To Use Gratitude Through Your Day
Hey there Friend,
Gratitude can be used in many ways. Today I would like to suggest a few ways I've found to help me practice gratitude in a deeper way. Each one of these has played a role in my life. I use them at different times for different reasons. Maybe you could use one of these suggestions in your life. If you do try any of these and want to share that experience with us we would love to hear about it. Gratitude means you don't live in fear or scarcity. It means you live in more joy and peace. Check out my top 5 below:
1. Look around where you are right now. Find one thing that you are grateful for. Now think about how that item came to be. How was it made? Who worked to make it? What skills were needed to make it? The deeper you think about it the better. For instance, right now I see my phone. My phone is in my possession because someone designed it, a factory built it, a company did advertising for it, someone put it on a website for me to order it, and so many other things. It can also be helpful to look up youtube videos about that item. How was it made? What makes that item special? Those kinds of things. Doing these things leads to more gratitude and more appreciation for all it took to have that item.
2. Think in the moment and recognize each moment as a gift. No, you won't be able to think about every second and how grateful you are for it, but when you have a moment of chaos then take a second to STOP and recognize how blessed you are. Your heart is beating, your mind is working, your body can move, or whatever it is. You may even want to think about each of your senses and what you can hear, touch, taste, smell, and see right now. Every moment is a gift, and if we can recognize what we are grateful for in the moment it can make a big difference.
3. Whenever you find yourself complaining, think about 3 things you are grateful for. When you do this you will quickly recognize when you start to complain and it may be easier to stop the habit. I had a friend who was able to recognize she was complaining too much. She would wear a rubber band on her wrist and snap herself whenever she was negative. She would then think about 3 things to be grateful for. This may be a little extreme but it can be really effective.
4. Daily writing down gratitude. I will share 2 different ways. Every morning write down 3 things you are grateful for. That only takes a few minutes and it's worth the effort. If you have one of our journals then you could answer one question every day. By answering these questions it helps your mind think about things outside your daily norm and that can be really empowering.
5. Last but not least I believe one of the most empowering things you can do before you go to bed is to think or write down the things you are grateful for that day. What experiences did you have that you feel grateful for? What moments do you not want to forget that you are grateful for? If you believe in God you could ask, how have I seen the hand of God in my life.
I hope one of these can be helpful to you. Remember some effort is better than no effort. I often feel that I should be perfect at all these things, I mean shouldn't I be when I write journals about gratitude? Well I'm human and I'm not perfect, but the effort I have put in has been worth it. Perfection is not the goal, doing it as often as you can is the goal.
Take Care,
Christy and the family
P.S. If you try one of these methods out I would love to hear about it! Send us a quick note via email/FB/Instagram.
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