Before we dive into the power of gratitude, I can’t help but wonder how you’re doing with your Mindfulness key? Are you actively using the key to unlock the ability to live in the moment, or is the key just hanging on your key ring with all the others? Like everything in life, having the theoretical knowledge about something, and doing it practically, are two totally different things.
By following the practical tools and practising mindfulness, actual changes are made to the brain. You can rewire your brain in thinking more positive thoughts without any effort, by actively practising mindfulness. More and more studies on the neuroplasticity of the brain (its ability to change) are being conducted all the time, as it is such a fascinating field.
Creating an Attitude of Gratitude
Another even simpler key that makes changes to the neural pathways of the brain when consistently used, is an Attitude of Gratitude. We’re all familiar with the idea of gratitude – to acknowledge, notice and appreciate the people or things that are good for us and that we often overlook.
This key might be simple, but I must warn you it’s not easy. Gratitude needs to be practised daily, like a muscle. Although weak at first, it gets stronger the more you make it part of your daily regime.
You have to train yourself to use gratitude. It needs to become one of your successful habits. You also need to change bad habits for example complaining. Yes, hopefully we all have good manners and know when to say “Thank you”, but feeling the gratitude emotion daily while saying or thinking it, is the real key. The benefits of gratitude for you psychologically, physically and socially will blow your mind!
Finding the Positive Side of Life
For anything negative that happens around us, or to us, there is always a positive counterpart. We don’t always have control over what happens, but we can choose which part of the two we’re going to focus on more: the negative, or the positive.
Unfortunately, our default setting in our DNA is to fixate on the negative part, referred to by psychologists as the “negativity bias”. To stew in everything that’s going wrong at the moment, things that didn’t turn out the way we planned. Or everything that can still goes wrong in the future.
We will automatically think about the negative part over and over again without any mental effort from our side. We can have ten positive things in our lives working for our good, but still only focus on that one negative thing. Gratitude is doing the opposite; therefore, choosing it is more difficult and takes more effort.
To focus on everything that is going well in your life, that is working, now and in the future. Remember: both parts are always there. You can choose any one of them at any given time. You, and you alone, have power and control over your choice.
Benefits of Daily Gratitude
Practising gratitude daily, increases you brain’s production of two crucial neurotransmitters responsible for your emotions: serotonin and dopamine. They lift your mood instantly, and make you feel happy. No wonder gratitude is referred to as “a natural anti-depressant”, as it relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety! (Emily Fletcher – Ziva Meditation) It’s also believed to reduce levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, making gratitude very effective in the treatment of anxiety as well. Gratitude controls emotional eating, by acting as a natural anti-depressant.
Neuroscientists and studies have found the following additional benefits of gratitude:
– Releases toxic emotions
– Reduces pain (Check out the Facebook group Attitude of Gratitude With Chronic Pain!)
– Improves sleep quality
– Aids in stress regulation
– Natural remedy for depression and anxiety
– Boosts immune system (Yeah, a Covid-19 antidote perhaps?)
– Cultivates happiness, joy and awe
– Enhances emotional resilience
– Reduces cardiac diseases and inflammation
– Lowers blood pressure
Unbelievable, right? And there we thought “Thank you” was just a case of good manners or etiquette! And the best part of it all is: Gratitude is absolutely FREE!
The Power of Gratitude for the believer:
Don’t you just love it when modern science confirms what the Word of God has been instructing us to do for the past almost 2000 years? Just have a look at: Ps 107:1, 2 Cor 4:15-16, Eph 5:20, Phil 4:6-7, Col 3:15-17, 1 Thes 5:18, and many, many more where we are assigned to be thankful by the One who knows exactly what we need in order for us to make it in this life. Like a user manual written by our Manufacturer. Wow! As you move closer to God by giving thanks daily in your journal or in prayer, you will experience more intimacy in your relationship with God, which is what we all crave for. A good place to start is by giving thanks to Jesus for what He did for you on the cross. Because of Him, you are completely, unconditionally forgiven, saved, free, in right standing with God and filled with the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!
Tips for Being Grateful
Now I’m going to share some practical tips you can use daily to kick-start your attitude of gratitude and embrace the healing power of gratitude:
Start your day with Gratitude:
As you wake up in the morning, before getting out of bed, quickly think of 3 people or things you can be grateful for. Note: each morning 3 different things. I know some of you might think: “My life is so miserable, that’s going to be impossible!”
Well, although I’m honestly not dismissing your pain and despair, I want to convince you otherwise. Start with one. Everybody reading this article have at least one of their five senses working. Start there. Maybe think of the person at the grocery store yesterday who packed your bags for you, or filled up your tank with gas. Start there. Remember I said earlier in the article that your gratitude muscle will get stronger the more you use it? Start doing those sit-ups even though you are convinced that you don’t have any abs left!
Don’t spend longer than five minutes on this; You can always spend more time on it again later while you do exercise, meditation or in prayer.
Gratitude Journal:
Embrace the power of gratitude with a gratitude journal. This will be a bit more time consuming, so you’ll have to set out some time daily for journaling in your schedule. You can use any note book, but not your computer.
You can print a basic template and paste it in your note book, but I want you to write old-fashioned-style in your journal. Make it colourful and fun. If you like scrapbooking, go for it! Even if you only use 3 different colours of pens, that’s also fine. Paste or draw pictures in your journal, that’s important! Your template can look something like this (NB Only an example):
You can write as few or as many bullets per day as you like. Be creative. You will notice that the more you write, the more new things you will discover to be grateful for each day. End off with 3 Thank you’s at the end of your journaling.
Send a Gratitude note:
Write a letter, e-mail, or WhatsApp to any person you feel grateful towards, without expecting any response. To anybody who helped you, or just for being a good friend / spouse / child. It can be the person in your gratitude journal template, or not. Express your gratitude, and tell them how you appreciate them.
Positive and Negative:
It’s important here to say to one another (again) that there are good and bad, of course there are! If we try to focus ONLY on the good, the exercise can quickly become dull, and we will be guilty of an approach called “toxic positivity”.
The secret is not to dwell on the bad. Should you keep on stewing in the problem, complaining repeatedly, you will get into trouble. We notice and acknowledge it, and if it’s something we can’t change, then we need to accept it. Dig deep, and find the gratitude in that as well. You don’t have to like the situation, but by accepting it, you will be able to move forward with joy and still pursue a life of abundance. Acceptance is not a weak form of surrender; on the contrary, it empowers you!
Saying “Thank you”:
We all do automatically lots of times during the day. But start focusing on the words, look the person in the eye, and add an emotion of genuine gratitude towards that person. Make those words count!
The Healing Power of Gratitude
If you’ve followed the tips in this article for at least 30 days, but still struggle to have an attitude of gratitude, don’t despair! The 20-hour virtual online Transformation Coaching System™ that I use, will automatically increase your gratitude without any further effort from your side. As soon as you drop your mental and emotional baggage and Travel Lightly through life, you will experience the power of gratitude in your day-to-day life.
Contact me TODAY for a free 30 min online Session!
Curious about the power of gratitude? I am a certified Transformation Life Coach operating in Riebeek Kasteel, Western Cape of South Africa. I also do virtual online life coaching sessions, so no matter where you are situated, all you need is an internet connection, a mobile phone or computer, and a space where you can meet with me uninterruptedly once a week for two hours.
Thank you for reading my article. You can’t share this attitude of gratitude with enough people, so please, start sharing! The next key #4 to personal empowerment (becoming the best version of yourself) is the POWER OF A POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM.
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References: https://mindowl.org/how-gratitude-changes-your-brain/ https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/ https://www.gratitudeaddict.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias
