It is often said that the more you try to recognize things in your life that you are thankful for, that the more things you will find to be thankful for; I believe this to be true. Gratitude is one of the easiest ways to go about improving our lives because it can remind us of what we have, when we get too caught up in looking at wanting things that we don't have.
Sometimes when we get too busy with daily tasks we forget to maintain a healthy perspective and we can easily forget what we should be thankful for, instead choosing to stress or get upset over what we still wish we had.
Remembering to think back on what we have that we are thankful for, can be an easy way to remind ourselves that we perhaps aren't in such a desperate situation. Or at least allow us to maintain thankfulness until it improves.
If you have clean running water, a little money in your pocket, some food in the fridge, then you're already ahead of millions of people in the world who don't even have that.
Whatever we spend time focusing on, we are going to magnify that issue in our mind. When we spend a lot of time focused on how bad things are or how we don't have that we want, then it might not take long before we are pretty miserable and not enjoying our lives.
But gratitude can shift that perception and improve happiness by helping to reintroduce some healthy perspective.
Some say that gratefulness is at the root of joy and I think it greatly contributes. Gratitude inspires happiness and therefore can greatly alter attitude. When it comes to spending time thinking about what I don't have, or purposefully trying to look around and be thankful for what I do have, I would rather opt for appreciation.
It's easy today to look around and see the advertisements that pressure us to have the fancy car, the big house, the right clothes etc, and many people feel invaluable if they don't live up to this standard. It's easy to be so busy stressing out about what we don't have, that we forget to be thankful, we stay caught up in our misery.
Thankfulness is a habit and I think the more we exercise it that the more it grows in our life and this is one area that I want to stay focused on. Though we each may face our own individual challenges, we can still pause to appreciate all that we do have. I have found that focusing on what I am thankful for every day really has helped me to increase my own happiness and try to remember what matters most in my life.
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Yes indeed! Just left a comment about this in someone's post yesterday.
"You can't be angry and grateful at the same time" Tony Robbins.
I make a point to write out gratitudes nearly every day to keep my mind right.
that's a good one:) thanks for sharing
Great thoughts, totally agree with you! If we are privileged have basic human needs, and be able to see, hear, walk and feel...What else do you need for happiness? I would add amazing quote from Bob Marley, that refers to money: "Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.”
Have a great day, and thanks for sharing this amazing post with us :)
The more we realize that we're merely here for a short time and no afterlife is guaranteed,the quicker we will begin to love our neighbors and reciprocity would reign supreme.
I'm just finished written a blog before you've posted hehe , something similar to gratitude by giving and making other people happy without asking anything in return . ;-) Thank you for the motivation @dotivoluntarily.
100% agree. I used to try to guilt my kids into being grateful when they complained, but because they are young and we are so fortunate, they don't have the frame of reference yet to understand things are very different for others. Now I let them lead the gratitude conversations and it's much more meaningful to them. It's a good practice for all of us.
Gratitude and hope are two things that make people harder to control.
Amazing! Followed you now. Hope to interact with you more soon. :)
Absolutely right. :)
Another great article @doitvoluntarily! Thanks for the reminder.
I totally agree that being grateful is something we seldom stop and count the things we have not the things we don't have. I've always had pure water to drink but for some reason I am so grateful for water. I know in some parts of the world people have to drink water that is full of disease yet they have to drink it anyway because that's all they have. Maybe at times we don't have special fun food in the fridge but sometimes a crock pot of beans and cornbread will fill a hungry person. I'm thankful and have gratitude for the things I have in my life. Thanks for the reminder.
Great post and great links, thanks!
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