Ok,
I've got your attention.
Let's begin, shall we??
Gratitude
noun
the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
This single word can change your life forever.
Let me explain.
Gratitude is what brings us joy.
We can only appreciate things that we are grateful for.
Without gratitude we have no reasons to be happy.
Gratitude practice trains your brain to be happier.
I'm from the US.
We are constantly bombarded by images of people and things that are better than us.
Celebrities that are more beautiful.
Individuals that are happier and more successful.
Things that we don't need and can barely afford.
There is a reason for this
Modern marketers have become VERY good at leveraging our primal emotions to motivate us to buy products.
When you watch a car commercial you see beautiful people that are smiling and living a wonderful, exciting life ...
What does that have to do with the car??
Nothing!
They are leveraging our innate desire for success, acceptance and happiness and connecting that idea with their brand and their product.
A similar thing happens when we use social media.
Social media highlights peoples top experiences.
No one posts of picture of themselves when they look ugly or when they are feeling down.
When we scroll through our news feeds we are seeing the top 1% of someones life.
This "hyper-density" of positive experiences can make us feel not so good... Especially when we have to live the whole 100% of our lives, not just the social media worthy moments.
Now you see
We have found ourselves in a society that trains us to be discontent.
It trains us to crave the newest and the best.
It trains us to never be happy.
It's not your fault ...
but it is your responsibility.
Fortunately, the solution is simple.
If we are constantly bombarded by "anti-gratitude", all we need to do is give ourselves a daily dose of the opposite.
Gratefulness
Let me give you a personal example
A year ago I was scrolling through my Instagram feed ...
I stumbled upon a post by a young women that I was quite interested in.
She was telling her personal story of gratefulness and how a simple gratitude journal had changed her life
I thought to myself ...
If she is doing a gratitude journal ... and I start a gratitude journal ... maybe she will like me!!
Ha!
as we now see, social media is good for some things :P
That day changed my life
From then on I chose to take time to give thanks, every day.
I made it simple for myself.
I would write one page, every day.
At first it was challenging
I wasn't grateful for that many things.
I had to fake it.
When I ran out of things that I felt grateful for, I started writing things that I thought I should be grateful for.
Eventually, I began to notice a change
It didn't happen over night.
There were many days when I begrudgingly worked through my exercise.
Yet, I was committed.
And then,
sooner than I had expected ...
I noticed a change.
I would wake up in the morning and just feel happy.
I would notice moments in my day where I was simply grateful to be alive.
I started acting with more compassion and I began to enjoy each aspect of my life that much more.
It turns out this woman had not been lying.
A simple gratitude journal radically changed my life.
It's been about a year now and I still journal every day.
It's so important to me that I take my journal with me everywhere.
Now, I know it doesn't seem like much ...
but it really works.
When we write down the things we are grateful for we are actually rewiring the brain.
Over time, we start to redefine how valuable things are to us.
Simply writing down what we are grateful for leads to a cumulative, lasting change in our physical brain and mental state.
Let me lead you on an experience
Ask yourself this one question.
How grateful am I to be alive??
To keep it simple lets use a score of 0-10.
Record your answer and keep moving.
Now, I want you to think about your life.
Think about all of the things you have.
Literally all of them.
Your clothes, your cell phone, the place you live.
The food in your fridge, the city around you, the electricity running through your walls.
Take a moment to consider how much you really have.
Let's take it up a notch
Imagine what your life would be like if you were born 100 years ago.
WW1 has just ended and you are probably poor.
What if you were born 250 years ago?
They didn't even have light bulbs?
500 years ago?
You probably wouldn't even have had running water!
And if it's really too far out to grasp, try reading this account of daily life in the 1600's
Take a moment and let all of this sink in.
Ask yourself one more time.
How happy am I to be alive??
Did your answer change?
It bet it did.
That is the power of perspective.
That is the power of our mind.
We get to choose how happy we are at any moment.
It takes work, but you can cultivate a mindset of positivity and gratitude.
Moving Forward
Gratitude is a skill.
It is something that must be cultivated.
If you do not use this muscle it will dissipate over time.
A daily gratitude journal is an easy way to cultivate gratitude and create lasting change.
As a bit of an extra incentive, I will start giving out upvotes to people who tag their posts with #dailygratitude
You can change your whole life with this simple exercise ...
and, by changing your life, you will
change the whole world
I hope you liked this post.
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I think the secret is to find that golden middle: never be complacent with what you achieved so far and always strive to achieve new heights; but while doing it, be thankful for what you achieve at every single milestone.
And yes, it sounds a bit contradictory...
balance is the key to everything in life @cryptoeera
Isn't everything a little bit paradoxical on the weekends?
I like paradoxical stuff.
hi, @metama. I had a strong religious experience and that made me see that nothing is accidental, everything happens because someone was there. But I had never thought of the idea of writing a thank-you journal.
Thank you so much.
you are welcome @ramonrene ! I hope that you begin your journal today! May it give you much gratitude so that you can share your joy with the world
GRACIAS, GRACIAS, GRACIAS!
Great post man!
I just wanna add something:
For example, somebody give us something, we would say thank you and say his/her name.
Through our parents, we were born, so we say, "Thanks Mom!", "Thanks Dad!"
How about the universe and all its aspects for existence like air etc. ?
How do we say in gratitude?
I guess we won't say, thanks air or thanks universe or thanks earth or mother earth or mother nature (so there is also father earth or father nature?).
Its very obvious that all these stuffs came from because there is a Giver that gave them to us. Things will not come to existence on its own, without power or force governing them.
So we say, "Thanks God for all of these!"
thank the universe for it's very existence ...
:) I love it :) :) :)
thanks @ronel
Wow that's a beautiful philosophy of life and I really like your way of thinking I think that it's the best way of thinking if you want to move forward in your life.
As I appreciated it I would like to be able to translate your post and to post it on my blog to spread your message to the french community who can't speak english.
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Hey @thetranslator glad you liked the post. Would be happy to have you share this. Let's split the earnings
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Thanks you for your support and the fact that you let us translate it ;). I will translate it and post the translation on the comment section of this post :)
Wonderful! Am really impressed with this piece of work.. It's very easy to loose site of what life has in stock for us due to ingratitude.. Wish to see more of your creative work.. I have followed and will definitely upvote this post.. Please do well to follow back.. I need good followership likewise
Thank you @henrysparks glad you like the content. Stay tuned for more
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I learned about the blessing of expressing gratitude a couple of decades ago when I was a devotee of an Indian guru. The practice was an inner discipline that was linked to silent mantra repetition. With the constant repetition of this mantra going on in my mind, I became able to feel gratitude for everything that I experienced, whether it was a positive or a seemingly negative experience. The joy that this practice brought about was immense. I no longer follow this guru as devotedly as I used to, but the practice became ingrained and I still have a wonderfully positive, and grateful attitude towards my life. I do like the idea of journaling gratitude, and I think I'll try this out just to ramp up my game ;)
I just joined Steemit today, and your's is the first posting I've read, and you are the first person I'm following. Looking forward to reading more of your thoughts and ideas.
haha so flattered @daryldarko ... thank you for sharing your wisdom as well. I am excited to see what you have to share.
You mentioned it right : we are bombarded with everything. Everyone wants money from our pockets and because of this marketing strategies today are based upon knowing what you want and even making you want something based on your emotions. We must be aware of this, plus to know few tactics so that we make sense of the world around us and understand that at some point we actually don't need something.
Not to mention that with social media we often forget about ourselves and just watch other people that have "better life than us" but in reality they are posting only the things they want and can to make others see them better on top of that many things are faked and we are not even aware of that.
Writing down helps us understand more about ourselves and to hopefully help us see where we want to be in the future while removing the negatives.
well played sir, well played @cyber-smiley
Our livies' s ecery second is important. Even we should be grateful to breath. If we were alive, it would be good chance to live it up and be happy to enjoy what we have. There might be a lot of problems such as breaking up from girl/boyfriend, having depths, losing parents or anything else but if we are alive, we can evaluate every second to gratefull even for breathing. That is the important issue. We have only a life. Take lessons and be grateful. That is it.
no one is guaranteed tomorrow.
Right now is all we can be sure of.
Thank you @jayzaza
Here is the french version of this post 😉: https://staging.busy.org/@thetranslator/fr-or-cet-exercice-simple-va-changer-votre-vie-pour-toujours-or-metama
Excellent topic. Thanks for this post.
WOMAN; you fall in love with the features that make you happy, and they try to take that feature from you.
important reminder. wonderfully crafted.
thank you!
God (source) (universe) reflects what we feel back to us.
so it only makes sense to do as you have suggested.
better we get at this, the happy we become!
as nothing is more enjoyable than a world in which
we are appreciated.
one thing I have been struggling with is how I can want and desire something so badly yet not see it come to fruition. I am seeing that I have limitations with my mind of what I feel worthy of being and what I feel worthy of accepting. What a wild ride this thing called life is ... maybe one day I will figure it out ;P
Neale Donald Walsch, in Conversations with God, stated something to the effect you cannot get what you want because it produces the experiences of wanting.
so we must get to the feeling of having it, hence the suggestion to get into that car, house, around people doing the things you want to be doing so you can imagine and feel like you are doing it.
Then you will.
I've found it to be true, and been able to change many things using Faith.
With faith (God) we can do anything.
Do we need fear in order to feel gratitude?
I think it is an error to promote fantasising fake or unreal life situations that are worse than current one, just so that we can feel gratitude. Gratitude should come as it is, for what it is, without comparisons.
Otherwise if we train ourselves to compare, it is dangerous, we can fall in the trap of fear and become frozen, terrified of losing what we have.
And just for the record, living 500 years ago comes with some benefits too. Fresh clean air, clean food just come to my mind.
haha I did not mean to frighten people, just to help create a perspective that allows us to see how much we really have. I have a good friend who is super into history. He was telling me one day about how the kings and queens of a hundred years ago lived. They had people serve their food. They were able to eat things from all around the world. They had such wonderful comfort and conveniences ... it helped me realize how MUCH we really have in our world today. I know that my life is not that same as everyones but it helped me appreciate what I had been taking for granted.
I definitely do not want to add to the fear base so I appreciate your comment. It has made me consider my words more carefully @lightproject ... +1 to clean air
I appreciate your detailed answer and the insights you provided.
If I may, Id like to throw a question in the air.
Can we humans experience gratitude without the "mental trick" of comparison? Can gratitude come as the result of pure observation and consciousness?
I’m telling you.. you’re my twin:P
https://steemit.com/life/@steemityourway/365-days-of-daily-gratitude 🙏🏻😉
fantastic article! we have so much to be grateful for all the time, we may not always notice it, and may choose to ignore things but the more you train yourself to practice gratitude the more happiness and positivity is drawn towards you! keep it up :) and thanks for reminding us all to be more grateful.
You are welcome @photographyco
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Just yes. Grateful for this reminder as I sign off for the night here in Thailand. A perfect end-thought-post for the day that I am Thank-FULL for.
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One love @artemislives
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I today's time exercise is very important, today's generation health and time is totally absorbed either by mobile or computers.
Cousin's sitting beside doesn't even have time to communicate with each other.
gracias por escribir este articulo, la gratitud es componente importante de las cualidades que debemos aprender de la vida para nuestro bienestar y desarrollo...
I almost completely understood what you wrote :) :) :) gracias @magnifico2012
The good mine is in the safe body
Good post with reaches idea
Thanks
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tu post me atrapo hasta el final, no pude dejar de leerlo, es mas lo ley en voz alta para que mi esposo y mi hermana también lo escucharan .
Muchas gracias por compartir con nosotros contenido tan positivo que nos ayuda.
Grateful for the nice content and ideas you shared, really 500 years ago maybe tougher.
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imagine living without any modern technology ... makes you really appreciate what we have today :)
Wonderful post and beautifully laid out! My wife and I always thanks/express gratitude for all that we have and all that is done for us in our morning prayers, but I think this exercise will certainly fine tune that effort! Thanks and keep preaching!
you are welcome @rmichaelglass . I am glad you liked the post and hope that you stay tuned for more most excellent content
me encanto esa filosifia es hermosa
WOMAN; you fall in love with the features that make you happy, and they try to take that feature from you.
This is the most important thing to remember every day. Every aspect of our lives, we have something to be thankful. It is easy to think we we don't have enough, but the more we cancel out the noise, we realize we have a ton to be thankful about.
I am so grateful for my life. I can not even put it in words how lovely life has been for me <3
what are you most grateful for @alireza.zamani?
This 👆 is Great!!!
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I was having a pretty tough year last year (or at least I thought I was). One day in my journal I decided to make a list of everything I was grateful for. I was amazed at how much stuff I was actually grateful for. I was also amazed at all the things I had done which I was excited about.
It's so easy with insta and facebook to believe that everyone else is having a better time than you.
I now keep updating this list every month.
yessir @coinnotebook! Keep on crushing it!
Excellent topic. Appreciate and collect.
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If you have food in the fridge, clothes to wear, a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in … Then you are richer than 75% of the world population. Even if you are alive today you should be grateful.
There are so many things to be grateful for in life.
^^ well said @eeba-hussain ... travel has been a critical part of my personal evolution. To see others who have so little (materially) express so much joy, kindness and generosity changed the way I see the world. I always wanted to be successful ... now I am asking myself what that word really means.
Those who can't appreciate the little things, can't even enjoy the great things.
Also do check my blog.
change the whole world
Great post, will hold onto this one by resteeming it!
Upvoted!!
@luppers thanks my g!
No worries mate. Can I ask you to check out my content and leave some feedback? Greatly appreciated, thanks!
I needed this. Thank you so much and well written.
When are you starting your gratitude journal @dubloon135??
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Hi, @metama!
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Yeayy! Let's be more grateful for everyday in our life. I have been writing count my blessings since few months ago. I started it intentionally when I was thinking I'm not being blessed enough. So yea, it changed my perspectives to see my life and my attitude to my life. ❤️🙏👍 Keep it up. 😊
Thanks @fruityexplorer. Be sure to follow for more content like this
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😂 You too. I have already started this activity yoo. Have a blessed day.
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Me siento afortunada por haber encontrado hoy su post. La gratitud es algo que he estado tratando de poner en práctica en mi vida desde hace un tiempo y he visto resultados positivos, me gustaría ser aún más agradecida, comenzaré a llevar el diario. Hoy agradezco por ello.
Hi. Every day when I get up I thank God for life on a new day but it never occurred to me to write a thank you diary. I appreciate the great idea.
@metama a very positive perspective. really we have to learn to be grateful for what we have.
nice post sir thanks for given knowledge.
Funny enough, this topic came up in an interview I just watched with biohacker Dave Asprey. One of the concepts that he says makes the most impact on his life is daily gratitude!
The video is attached below. It'll start at 25:31 when he mentions the topic:
Thanks @anythingrandom
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Nice post, definitely something I need to practice.
Great post! I love it.
Wow I like your pickter.Your pick very nice and I like your post your is very Osaem.