Practising Gratitude

I’m sure you’ve all heard the maxim “Be grateful” and I know that sometimes, it just seems SO HARD to find something for which to be grateful.

I know I’ve been there too. Times when everything just seems to go wrong, or when there’s just so much going on that you don’t know how you’re ever going to get it all done. Or the bills are piling up and money’s tight. The kids are screaming and the house is a mess.

The times when it seems as if the entire world is conspiring against you and there’s simply nothing for which you feel grateful for. These are the very instances in which you need to start looking harder. Look harder around for the things that make your life what it is, and the people around you that make you who you are.

First, forgive yourself

Sometimes the biggest thing holding you back is yourself.

None more so than when you are judging yourself for all the things you have or haven’t said, or things you haven’t done, goals not yet achieved, incomplete to do lists and you find that it’s hard to be grateful for anything when things are not how you expect them to be.

Give yourself a little love, forgive yourself, and perhaps then you might be able to start seeing the rest of the world through different eyes.

Focus on the things you DO have

It is really hard to find gratitude when our tunnel vision insists on pointing us in the direction of all the things that we don’t yet have. The green eyed monster within that compares our achievements and material riches to the neighbour with the bigger house or the relative with the bigger pay check. Never satisfied, never good enough.

Stop right now and look around at all the joys in your life that you have right now.

Start small

Sometimes when it’s a struggle to find something for which to be grateful when all the big things in life aren’t going right. So start small, perhaps it’s that cup of coffee (or tea) in the morning that you wake up to, or a hug from your partner, or perhaps it’s a child’s smile.

When we start being grateful for little things, slowly we become more aware of the bigger things that are good around us.

Try every day

Make an effort every day to find something for which you are grateful. It may well be easier to do it at the same time every day, perhaps to keep a journal in which you list the things you are grateful for the last thing before you sleep at night.

Or perhaps every morning when you awake, say thanks for yet another day that holds a multitude of promise and potential.

Even better, if you can, carry a feeling of gratitude with you throughout your day.

And whenever you remember,

stop a moment,

take a deep breath,

looking around at all the things

for which you are grateful,

and say a little Thank You.

I promise, the world is filled with a lot more wonder than we realise.

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Take care and Be Happy.