Have you ever noticed how we are influenced by what we choose to focus on? The thoughts we think, beliefs we hold and lens we view life through, all shape our reality. Imagine what might change for us if we viewed our lives through the lens of gratitude on a regular basis.
Being grateful in our thoughts, words, and actions help us to see and appreciate the world around us. When we regularly practice gratitude, the need to search for peace and joy falls away. We realize everything we need, we already have. It is just a matter of focusing on the good before us and noticing who we already are.
Here are 7 ways gratitude brightens our view. These simple reminders show us how powerful gratitude is, and why it deserves to have a leading role in our lives.
#1 Gratitude Gets to the Heart of the Matter
We all can get swept up in chatter, judgment, and worry. Gratitude has a way of removing the noise and stories that cause these feelings of confusion. When we focus on what we are grateful for, regardless of what may be going on, we can quickly see what truly matters. Life is a gift. When we are living in a story that goes against this, we can use gratitude to find our way back to the truth and remember why we are blessed.
#2 Gratitude Helps us See People Clearly
We choose to see people clearly or not. We can judge others and focus on all of the reasons we believe they are flawed. Or we can use gratitude to help us see the light and the beauty in these same people around us. Love lives inside all of us. Gratitude helps us recognize the presence of love in others and feel it in ourselves.
#3 Gratitude Simplifies Everything
Life is not meant to be so complicated. If we are looking for simple solutions to feel happy in our hearts, it’s as easy as counting our blessings. There will always be reasons to be grateful and evidence to show us why all is well. If you are reading this right now — you are alive, you can read and I bet this is merely touching the surface of possible causes for feeling glad in your heart.
#4 Gratitude Accentuates the Beauty Around Us
Seriously! Just look around you. Everything from the beautiful sky, to the creative genius that makes it possible for us to travel the globe. There is beauty and light in every single human being and living thing. Our only job is to open our hearts and senses, and marvel in the beauty around us. Our world is breathtaking.
#5 Gratitude Helps us Be Present
When we focus on everything we love about life, we feel good in the moment. Gratitude helps us to re-create an experience and feel a deep sense of appreciation. It feels good to create opportunities to quiet the noise and appreciate what is before us.
#6 Gratitude Grows through Practice
The more we practice gratitude, the easier it becomes to see all of the things around us that lead to feeling grateful. If you are looking for simple ways to grow a gratitude practice, use rituals to help you. You could start your day off giving thanks. Perhaps write in a journal, say all your reasons aloud, or think about them while you enjoy your morning coffee or exercise. Right before you drift off to sleep, you could write down or think about 3 things you are grateful for that happened in your day. The great news is, we get to create a gratitude practice in a way that works best for each of us. There is no right or wrong way. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.
#7 Gratitude Connects us to Ourselves
When we are focused on everything we love about life, we are connecting to our inner truth. Our true self will always be there to guide us on the path that sits best with who we are. Sometimes we forget who we really are, or we can lose touch with our truth. The voice that wants us to do well and encourages us to see the good in the world around us, is the one we can trust as our own. When we are thankful for what we do have, we connect to who we are and the life we are so incredibly blessed to be in.
❤ Emily
Like what you read? Sign Up for free weekly inspiration with Emily’s featured articles, happiness strategies and videos and you’ll receive my free E-Course ‘Self-Care Success: Adopting a Self-Care Mindset That Sticks’.
Would you like to feel aligned in a life you love? Come check out my ‘Fall in Love With Your Life, One Week at a Time’ book on kindle and in softcover and hardcover, or explore the different E-Course offerings on my Love Your Life School. It’s a space to create new habits of thinking that will help you fall in love with your life.
Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed, disheartened, stuck, ready to just give up? Is your life crazy busy, but no closer to the life you want to be living?
What if I told you there’s a way to make your days reflect what’s most important to you — by design.
The Fall in Love With Your Life, Seasonal Planner guides you step-by-step to dream big, then create an action plan, broken down into micro-steps. With the Weekly Snapshot, you’ll map out the coming week centered around YOUR priorities.
It’s a gentle, but dynamic way to get unstuck from:
Overbooking | Procrastination | Burn out
It’s a bit of heaven for busy women. You’ll feel more in control, more hopeful, more alive.
And…if you want an extra boost, sign up for the Weekly Planning Membership offering offers accountability and support at an affordable price.
