An Attitude of Gratitude

By now, you’ve probably heard countless times that gratitude is good for you. It has been shown to improve sleep, self-esteem, physical health, psychological health, emotional resilience, and relationships. All of that, plus it’s free. So, you practice gratitude every single day, right?

I always associate Thanksgiving with gratitude and lots of turkey. I know this year hasn’t always made us feel grateful and downright miserable at times, but I am finding that the more I practice gratitude the happier I am. I decided this year I wouldn’t write my regular post about everything I am grateful for; I would share a few ways on how I learned to be grateful all the time. Hopefully, these tips will help you look at 2020 in a different light and bring you more joy in 2021.

1. “I Got To” List
   Listing off what we’re grateful for is sometimes made easier if we approach it with a specific set of words in mind. In this case, considering what we “got to experience” today. 
   
   
2. “I Didn’t Have To” List
   Sometimes, we can be thankful for the things that didn’t happen to us.
   
   
3. “Favorite Little Things” List
   Gratitude really doesn’t have to be complicated. If all you did was think of the tiny, little things that you saw or experienced today that made you smile, laugh or appreciate just being alive, I bet you could list them off pretty easily. 
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4. “What Are You Grateful For?” List
   This approach focuses on others. Your happy task would be to ask at least one other person every day what they’re grateful for, using whatever language you’d like to extract the joy from their experiences.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

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