The dictionary defines gratitude as thankfulness. When I think about gratitude, the following words come to mind. Appreciation, awareness, consciousness, abundance, prosperity, willingness. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude has been a gradual process for me. It is a practice that I use on a daily basis. Attitude is key in developing gratitude as a regular habit. Benjamin Franklin said “Nothing is either good or bad. It’s thinking that makes it so.” Appreciating the small accomplishments in my life is one of the ways I express gratitude. Lately I have been writing a daily Done List instead of a To Do List. Looking over my Done List at the end of the day puts me in touch with gratitude. Whereas the To Do List can be an excuse to be hard on myself if I don’t complete it. When I take time for gratitude, my perception of the world is more positive. I appreciate the small miracles all around me. I have learned to be grateful for the challenges, obstacles, hurdles that present themselves in my life. There is a gift in these difficult situations if I can look at them through my gratitude glasses.The following quote speaks to this. “There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands.” -Richard Bach
What about you? Do you have an attitude of gratitude? Have you ever kept a gratitude journal? How can you be more grateful for the small things in your life? What are you grateful for today? I would love to hear from you about your gratitude practice.
Thanks Harmony. What a great practice to share with your husband! Being grateful for the areas of my life where there is resistance is a stretch and what I know from experience is that’s where the opportunities for growth are found.
I have a couple of gratitude practices. I keep a gratitude journal in which I freewrite, sometimes at length, about the blessings in my life that I’m grateful for — and expressing gratitude, too, about the areas of my life where I have resistance and a good old case of pissiness. And my husband and I share short gratitudes out loud with each other before dinner each night, which is fun, funny, and a great way to connect to one another.
I love working with a list of gratitude. And then expanding that list with more of why the one is so important to me. I am grateful for your posts Nancy and to all of you in Inspired blogging group. While I’ve not met all of you personally I’ve gotten to know how wonderful you are inside. I appreciate the love that is shown with this group. I am grateful to know this is a place I can go to get some thoughtful, insightful, interesting words when I need them.
I consider a gratitude practice to be one of the most useful things a person can have. It can shift everything. There’s a particular quote I love, with unknown attribution: “Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don’t unravel.” Makes me smile everything I think of it.
Thank you for your comments Hema. I like the idea of the Gratitude Jar and it’s wonderful that you and your husband are doing this practice together.
I love your descriptions of gratitude and thankfulness Michele. When I read about the body movements for thankfulness, I immediately thought of the Namaste pose that we use in yoga class. What a great idea to have the app on your phone reminding you during the day to be grateful, love it! Thanks for your comments:)
Thanks for your comments Lindsay. One of the things I write in my morning pages some days is Only positive thoughts today. It’s a good reminder to myself to stay positive.
I loved the quote that you threw in from Benjamin Franklin. Gratitude is such an important part of our lives and thank you so much for this nice little reminder to keep thinking positive thoughts!
I have an app on my phone that reminds me throughout the day to add things I’m grateful for. This works great for me. My coach describes gratitude as kind of and outward expression…expanded chest, open heart, hands to they sky whereas thankfulness as more of an internal expression…hands in prayer position, head bowed, etc. Those body movements make sense to me…they are how I see/feel the two words – gratitude and thankfulness.
Lovely post Nancy. I hardly had an attitude of gratitude until a few years ago. It came to my realization that the more grateful I was the more I was being blessed with. This year my husband and I have begun a gratitude jar. We record everything and anything we are grateful on a daily basis. It sets the tone for the day and makes us concentrate more on the positives than on the negatives. Today I am grateful for my to-do list that I got done except for one…which wasn’t in my control…but will get sorted soon too. Thank you for your post:)
I try so hard to keep an attitude of gratitude. Actually, when I was in college and really, really struggling, every night before I went to bed, I would try and list off three good things that happened that day, even if they were really mundane like ‘I ate ice cream at dinner.’ I would put them on my white board so I could see them. I’ve fallen out of that practice since, but in that season of my life, it was very helpful. Today I’m grateful for leftover pizza ;), two awesome little boys, and that the sun came out.
Thanks for your comments Melissa. Whether it’s a written list or one that we do in our heads, I think it’s a powerful practice. Being in touch with gratitude puts me in a much more positive frame of mind. Thanks for sharing what you’re grateful for today:)
Hi Nancy. Thanks for this uplifting post and your Done List idea. I get such joy out of seeing brightly colored checks on my To DO List, and realize now that it becomes my daily Done List. And that helps put me in touch with good vibes and gratitude. Have a wonderful day❤️‼️
Thanks for your comments Vicki. Lots of gratitude when I look at my Done List at the end of each day.
Hi Nancy,
I have at times kept a gratitude journal. Right now I am doing Michele Bergh’s 30 Day Self-Love Challenge which has been keeping me busy thinking about things I love about myself which I suppose is similar. I’ve also been doing MORNING PAGES! It’s been good for me. Hope all is well.
Thanks Amy. I kept a gratitude journal for seven years and it was so helpful. Now I do a mental gratitude list every night before I fall asleep. I go over my day and say thank you for all the gifts and blessings in my day.