The Importance of Gratitude?

Gratitude. How would I define gratitude? We could say that gratitude is the quality of being grateful, being appreciative, for something or someone that impacts your life in some way, shape or form. Gratitude – a practice that is not practiced enough.

Don’t wait, look now!

Gratitude can singlehandedly change your day and if applied consistently can change your life. You can choose to express gratitude first thing in the morning, you can express gratitude last thing at night or somewhere in between. There is no fixed time when you should be grateful for something. You don’t need to wait for something positive to happen, instead look at the positives that are already there, waiting to be recognised.

Start small, everything begins small and then grows into something big. You can conjure things that you are grateful for and write them down or say them out loud – whatever suits you – but acknowledge the fact that there is always something you can be grateful for. Whether it’s your bed that you sleep in, the food you have access to in your fridge, the money in your bank account. Or maybe it’s the love and support from your family/friends, the movie you watched last night or the conversation you had.

Benefits

Gratitude is important to your mental and physical well-being and here is why.

When you are in the state of gratitude you cannot possibly be unhappy or angry, it’s physically not possible. When you are in the state of gratitude you are in a state of bliss – bliss where you cannot help smile and be thankful for what you have. Whilst in this state negative emotions cannot infiltrate your bubble. The power of gratitude is too strong to be burst by negative emotions attempting to infiltrate your psyche. If you don’t believe me try it now and feel the raw power of positive energy!

Psychologists have found that feeling grateful boosts happiness, even among those experiencing strong mental health problems. Not only this but people who express gratitude often also feel less stress, sleep better and experience healthier relationships. But expressing gratitude can also bring you more confidence.

By expressing gratitude consistently you will find that you become more confident: You walk and talk more confidently, you start to stand up more straight than ever before and open yourself (literally) up to the world. And you begin to understand the amazing gifts you can provide and have in your life, and you communicate more effectively. For you have recognised all of the beauty in your life that you are privileged with and are now able to use it to continue to seek more things to be grateful for, adding to your life riches and experiences.

It’s your choice

Gratitude is a choice. An easy choice. Have you ever noticed that there are people with much less than you who seem to have more than you? More energy, more passion, more desire, more spirit, more resilience. It’s likely that they have more gratitude than you too. These same people are likely to have experienced more pain too. A lot can be learnt about a person by knowing how much pain they have been through.

Now this doesn’t mean you should be grateful for what you have and stop seeking improvement. Quite the contrary. Recognise what you have, be grateful for it and seek to add more to it. Seek challenges. Stand strong against hardship. Love, live, laugh. Just remember to be grateful along the way.

Thank you for reading.

Tony.