Adopting a gratitude practice improves your health, well-being, and social relationships.
‘Tis the season to have an attitude of gratitude, but what does that really mean?
It means you can experience the benefits of gratitude by making it a part of your daily routines.
It’s about staying grounded in the present and enjoying little pleasures, experiences, and people who make a difference in your life.
Like embarking on a journey through the lovely Texas Hill Country, I couldn’t imagine NOT stopping at every vineyard. It hurts thinking about rushing through to the end without stopping to smell and sip the wine!
And it should feel gut-wrenching to rush through your life without stopping to relish the things and people that bring you joy. It is downright bad for your well-being. Why are you in such a hurry to get to the end of your life?
Adding a small gratitude practice will help you slow down and identify the experiences and people that bring you joy.
I’ve realized how helpful it is to live in the present moment and be grateful for the little things that make life so rich and worth living.
What is gratitude?
Gratitude has many definitions rooted in philosophy, religion, morality, sociology, and social psychology. And *side note* I’m happy to see gratitude research making its way into organizational behavior! But I’m sure you don’t need a study to tell you how much of a difference it makes to have a job where your boss and colleagues appreciate you.
Anyways, most definitions agree that gratitude encompasses so much more than just an expression.
To me, gratitude is cultivating a deeper appreciation for the little things in life that make it special and worth living.
Likewise, gratitude can take on many forms, each having its unique benefits.
Gratitude is a state of being, experienced moment by moment. Such as, reveling in the warm fuzzy feelings of that stranger paying for your cup of coffee in the Big Country Coffee line.
Or gratitude can be a dispositional personality trait that lasts longer than a moment. Specifically when you don’t think twice about responding graciously to favors because it comes naturally to you.
Finally, gratitude is both emotional and social. It helps us build and strengthen our relationships, apologize when we do wrong, and get motivated to seize the day!
Why should you care about gratitude?
Gratitude makes a huge difference in your life and the lives of those around you. Gratitude can even make us feel connected to something larger than ourselves.
What is Gratitude and Why Is It So Important on Positivepsychology.com summarizes gratitude research to bring you the top 9 benefits of gratitude:
- Enhanced wellbeing
- Deeper relationships
- Improved optimism
- Increased happiness
- Stronger self-control
- Better physical and mental health
- An overall better life
- Stronger athleticism
- Stronger neurologically-based morality
I don’t know about you but I’ll take an overall better life and stronger athleticism! Well, the studies that placed stronger athleticism on the list were conducted on teenage athletes and sports fans, but it would be mind-blowing if saying “thank you” could make you run faster.
4 essential gratitude practices.
If the research hasn’t convinced you that gratitude is important, maybe you’ve had a life-changing experience that has made you think twice about counting your blessings.
Like my dad said at my wedding, “make plans like you have forever to live, but live each day like there is no tomorrow.”
You don’t necessarily need a life-changing experience to help you focus on the goodness in your life. These 4 practices will make it easy for you to incorporate gratitude daily.
1) Creating savoring rituals around your daily routines
I found this exercise while reading “What is gratitude and why is it so important?” on positive psychology.com
And I must say it’s one of my favorites. Creating savoring rituals in your daily routines starts by choosing at least two things each day, that you enjoy doing, to focus on and savor. By savoring your favorite things, you will ground yourself in the moment and increase your happiness, resilience, and well-being.
The method is simple: choose at least two moments a day to savor, and try not to multitask. You can start by adding something you enjoy to your morning or evening routines. This will also give you something to look forward to when waking up in the morning or preparing yourself to rest at night. You can also focus on the activities you enjoy the most in your daily routines. Focus on positive emotions when they happen, and be mindful and fully present while savoring to get the most out of this practice.
Try doing this practice for at least two weeks and write about it. Write down what you are savoring and reflect at the end of each week.
You can find more detailed information about this exercise including question prompts to write about by downloading the Three gratitude exercise free download from positive psychology at the end of the article.
For a more personal account, check out “The little things I savor,” on My Story.
2) Keep a gratitude journal or a running gratitude list
The gratitude journal.
There are good reasons why the gratitude journal is one of the top methods to cultivate gratitude.
First, expressive writing (aka journaling), can help you to alleviate stress and anxiety by taking the time to write diligently about your feelings.
A study conducted on a group of math students revealed that their math scores improved by journaling for ten minutes before their test!
In addition, new gratitude research published this month, claims that people reported experiencing more happiness in their lives and a more positive attitude by writing long-form gratitude letters or essays, as compared to people who wrote lists.
The researchers think this outcome happened because long-form writing is a psychologically rich experience and requires more contemplation than jotting down a list.
I get that too, if someone asks you to list all the things that you are thankful for, you are likely to say, alright, I am thankful for my husband, house, dog, car, and job…okay bye! Without thinking about what those things mean to you.
Taking up journaling will manifest gratitude in your life, but let’s face it, only some are writers, so I am not discounting lists yet. A list can be a great alternative, but the key is to make this practice more meaningful.
The gratitude list.
Taylor from the episode “Staying Thankful,” of the No Walls podcast encourages keeping a gratitude list on your phone. What a great solution for tracking your blessings on the go! This practice helps him stay grateful, even on difficult days.
The best part is instead of saying goodbye to the list, you use the list to look back on those moments and reflect. It is there for you when you need it, and it will help you think about what you were thankful for in the past and compare that to the blessings you have now.
Keeping a running list will save you from writing essays and it’s effective because you need to look back, think, and reflect to reap the benefits. It allows you to continue to experience the blessings of life and get through tough times.
3) “Think of a time when” exercise
Preston from the same episode “Staying Thankful,” of the No Walls podcast recommends this practice to keep a grateful attitude. He gives the best and most relatable example of getting up early and going to work. There was a time in the past when he would have loved to have had his current job. So he reminds himself of this fact on the way to work, and it gets him ready to take on the day.
I can relate, I’m not a morning person and sometimes it’s hard to wake up at 5:30 am and get ready for work. But one morning I sat at my desk sipping my coffee half asleep and thought, I’m not deep cleaning syrups today. There is nothing sticky about my current job and I am beyond grateful for that!
Another bonus practice to do on the way to work is to blast a gratitude playlist like this one from Spotify. No writing is required!
4) Writing notes and thank you cards
Thank you cards.
Writing a thank you note to express gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to make someone else smile. It is a simple and effective way to let someone know that their actions have made a difference in your life.
One of the teachers at my school wrote thank you cards to her colleagues and I got so excited seeing my card in my box. She wrote my last name in fancy black ink that looked professionally printed. Even though I have only worked with her for a couple of months it was amazing to hear that she thought my smile was infectious. Something I haven’t thought twice about made someone else grateful and spread positivity.
I keep her note next to my other thankyou notes and every time I’m feeling down I re-read them and smile.
Writing notes.
Notes are like thank you cards but I wanted to share this story from my life.
I bought a notepad for my work buddy that only cost me $5, but it had a picture of her dog. I had noticed she had a picture of her dog Winnie on her computer screen, so the notepad was a no-brainer to get her. She loved it so much that she wrote me a sweet note on the pad. The impact meaning of the gift was worth much more than its monetary value.
Writing notes and thank you cards to express gratitude only takes a few moments of your time. But it brings happiness to both people involved.
Gratitude takeaways.
Pausing through life to think about the experiences and people that bring you joy is as essential as stopping at every vineyard in Texas Wine Country. If you just rush through what’s the point? The journey won’t be the same.
Gratitude has many forms, and lots of research to support its benefits in your life as well as the lives of athletes and sports fans.
To reap the benefits of gratitude in your life, find and adopt a gratitude practice that works for you! Let me know which practice was your favorite and why!
And as always let me know what topics you’d like to see on the blog!
Check out The Gratitude Journal: Prompts, PDFs, and Worksheets to jumpstart your gratitude journal.
References:
- What is Gratitude and Why Is It So Important? By Courtney E. Ackerman, MA.
- Gratitude on Psychology Today @positivepsychology_com
- Are Some Ways of Expressing Gratitude More Beneficial Than Others? Results From a Randomized Controlled Experiment
- Why Your Students Should Journal Before a Test by Ross E O’Hara, Ph.D. @psych_today
- Appreciating social science research on gratitude: An integrative review for organizational scholarship on gratitude in the workplace
- The No Walls Podcast @thebrick.church
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