5 Days to Gratefulness, Thankfulness, And Appreciation pt1
Welcome to Day 1 of the gratefulness challenge. I’d like to spend the next 5 days looking further into how being more grateful can help us in so many different ways, and of course the wonderful effects this positive attitude has on the people we come into contact with every day.
I understand the difficult year we’ve had, and I’ve found myself dealing with the feeling of sadness, and I simply need to take action. So to help myself and hopefully others too, I want to look at how we can focus on subjects like; thankfulness, joy and gratitude to recalibrate our lives, and live again with joy in our lives.
I’d like to start today by simply looking at the very simple practice of noticing.
A grateful heart is a heart NOTICES good things that are already present. In other words, when you’re grateful, you’re constantly seeing all the good that you have in your life.
You’re not constantly frustrated about what you don’t have.
Not constantly searching for the next thing you’re going to get.
Rather, you’re always on the lookout for good things that are coming into your life. And when you notice these things, you give thanks for them.
A delicious meal…
A gorgeous sunset…
A car that you love…
A peaceful walk with your loved ones…
Friends who make you laugh…
If you want to be grateful, you must regularly be noticing all the good things, big and small that come into your life. When you do this, your heart is automatically filled with gratefulness.
Decide today that you are going to notice at least TEN things that you are grateful for.
Start noticing as soon as you wake up. Make an effort to notice something you’re grateful for within the first five minutes of waking up.
If nothing comes to mind, simply be grateful that you’re alive! You’ve got another glorious day to live, another day to experience wonderful blessings, another day to be filled with joy.
The moment you notice something, give thanks for it. It can help if you audibly say, “Thank you for… and then say out loud what you are grateful for”
By saying it out loud, you’re actively reminding yourself of the good that has come into your life.
You shouldn’t have any trouble noticing ten things to be grateful for. If you get to ten early in the day, go for TWENTY! The more you’re grateful, the happier you’ll be.
Okay, now it’s time for you to practice noticing and being grateful. Write down how you feel. If you find you’re having difficulty remembering to notice the things that stir your inner thankfulness, perhaps starting a gratitude journal would help. A journal is a tangible visual aid that will trigger you to think about what you’re grateful for.
If you’d like a free digital copy of my “Happiness Journal” that I’ve created to help us, as we go through this subject, you can get it from here.
Hope you enjoyed this brief look at why noticing good things can help us to be happier.
Roy Clayton
