Gratitude is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as ‘the state of being grateful, thankfulness.’
Being truly thankful is a way of being grateful for being alive and living your life.
Living your life with gratitude can be one of the first steps to living a life feeling more fulfilled and happy. Being grateful can help you achieve your goals and dreams more quickly!
What often happens is this; we get caught up in the ups and downs (negative news stories etc.) or the natural the ebb and flow of life – and we get stuck there. It is easy to be grateful when things are in the flow of life and everything feels great. Have you noticed that sometimes the worse things get, the more things seem to go wrong?
If we can remember to be grateful in the ebb or challenging times too – that’s where the magic happens. The more we focus on what is actually working well in our bodies, our job and relationships – we can shift things quickly.
We don’t have to be all the way through a challenging experience to begin practicing gratitude. We reap what we sow – so we want to be sowing positive thoughts filled with the energy of gratitude. Then this occurs: the better it gets, the better it gets.
Being grateful actually overrides negative thoughts and emotions…like switching to a different radio station – we can tune in to the frequency and vibration of gratitude.
We may feel that life won’t get better; that this is all there is. We start small with the sweetest little things in life… living in a free country, we can walk, blue sunny skies, family, a job, a home etc.
Pay your bills with a smile. Know you have the money to do so…there is a positive vibration or energy in paying your bills with a smile instead of a grimace.
Even an illness, near-miss accident, job loss or set back can all be blessings in disguise. Look at all the things that ARE working, flowing, and in alignment in your life; and place your focus there more and more. Learn to catch yourself and develop the awareness to shift your focus back to one of gratitude.
I find it helpful to find a word, image or short statement to help shift negative thoughts, and feelings on the spot:
For example:
– Imagine you are changing the station on the radio to one you like (a bad song to a good one).
– Use a phrase such as: I choose to feel good.
– Use the image of flicking a switch so the light goes on.