Discover The Magical Power of Gratitude
Do you practice gratitude?
If I am honest with you I have been guilty in the past of comparing my own life to that of other people. I think it’s a behaviour ingrained into our society because capitalist culture thrives off it, the use of social media is a breeding ground for comparison and also it's part of human nature. But comparing your grass to that of others, although it may feel like a more natural behaviour for you, can often be very unhelpful for your mental health. ❌ It can make you feel negative about yourself, long to be like the person your comparing yourself to, and make you forget all the things you can be grateful for in your life ❌. Whereas gratitude is a positive emotion and experiencing it can further generate additional positive emotions including joy, connectedness, a sense of security, and tranquility to name a few 🙌 (Emmons and McCullough, 2002, McCullogh et al. 2004 and Komase et al. 2021)
👆Practicing gratitude isn’t about only being grateful for things you perceive as being worthy of being grateful for. This leads to you living a life where you are always chasing what you consider the next best thing, instead of enjoying the present moment. You need to be grateful for what you would consider the little things too. This can be especially difficult to do if you are the type of person who is always striving for perfection, experiencing low self-worth (never feeling good enough), or is on the brink of burnout. So be kind to yourself🤗.
A common theme I have noticed with clients is the fear that if you are grateful for your current situation you won't be able to achieve your desired situation because you won’t have the motivation. Finding gratitude for your current circumstances will not stop you from achieving your goals, but it will make you happier while your work on reaching those goals🥳.
✍️ Practicing Gratitude Exercise: It is easy for a professional to tell you to “be more grateful”. But, how? I have included some useful activities that you can incorporate into your daily life that can help you practice the act of feeling gratitude.
🔷 When you are doing household chores you might find yourself thinking “This is boring”, “There are so many other things I’d rather be doing” and “I’m tired I can’t be bothered”. Do these thoughts make you feel good? Do they make you motivated to complete the chore? I know the answer is no for me personally. So, let’s reframe our thoughts. But Abigail, how do we do this you might be thinking? Ok so here is what you need to do… When you are washing up instead of having your unhelpful thoughts. REFRAME. “I am so fortunate that I have been able to make myself food”, “I am so lucky that I am well fed and I have a full stomach”, “I have done so well fuelling my body” and, “I am lucky to have a kitchen with a sink and running water so I can wash my dishes”. 🔷 Another example, is maybe you aren’t motivated to do your clothes laundry. So, it’s time to REFRAME. Instead of your unhelpful thoughts tell yourself “I am lucky to have all these wonderful clothes”, “I love this piece of clothing it makes me feel good when I wear it”, “This is my work shirt, I’m lucky to have a career I am doing well in”, “This jumper keeps me nice and warm when I wear it” and, “I’m happy I have a working washing machine” 🔷 Acts of self-care are also great opportunities for you to practice gratitude. Having your daily shower is a great example. Sometimes it’s cold in the morning and getting in the shower is the last thing you want to do. Time to REFRAME. Change your unhelpful thoughts to “I am going to be so clean and fresh after this shower”, “This is me taking care of myself, I am proud that I am doing this for me”, “I deserve to be nice and clean”, “This is my favourite smelling shower gel” and, “I’m lucky to have shower facilities”. 🔷 Some things might cause you more unhelpful thoughts than others and it can be more difficult for you to reframe your thoughts into a more grateful light. A lot of people don’t enjoy their job for example. I am not suggesting that you should continue in a career that doesn’t align with your values or bring you happiness. But, while you are in the job, that’s the situation you’re in at present so trying to reframe your thoughts could help you. Some gratitude examples you could use include “I am grateful to be employed”, “I contribute to the functioning of society in my own way”, “My work colleague is friendly to me”, “This is going to help me with my career progression”, “I love my lunch hour I am having my favourite food for lunch today”, and “This is an improvement on my last job”.
👆Remember to be kind to yourself when learning to practice gratitude. Many people aren’t taught to practice gratitude as children. This leads to us being adults who are always focusing on the next thing or only the worst of our situation, and not enjoying the present moment and the positive areas we do have in our life. I understand it can be difficult to be grateful for all situations in your life. Just try and incorporate the practice of gratitude in areas of your life that you can. ✨With more practice, you will be able to expand your feelings of gratitude into more areas of your life ✨.
🌱🌿☘️🍃 Let’s focus on being grateful for our own grass. Caring for and maintaining our own grass. Be so focused on your grass that you aren’t comparing yours to anyone else’s 🍃☘️🌿🌱.
👉Happio have an excellent guided meditation resource for practicing gratitude "Gratitude"🤗. It is located in the self-care section and takes only five minutes to complete👏.