How do you practice gratitude? And how does a gratitude practice change your life?
When we practice gratitude, it changes our mindset from focusing on what’s missing to what we have already. It's a simple mind switch we can do to create abundance and happiness in life. However, are we doing it right?
I still get frustrated and disappointed when things don't work out. I thought
'shouldn't I still feel grateful when things go bad?'
I did a little research to make my gratitude practice.
First, create a daily routine
You may be a lucky person if you feel thankful and find blessings in small things in life such as drinking water, walking like mundane activities. But, most of us are not. but it’s Okay!
Neurologists say our brain is a miracle - hopeful miracle I'd say. We can train our brain. Once the brain is trained, it will do the job automatically. That means we can do anything to train our brain. We just need a little daily effort to create gratitude muscle in part of our brain. Write down, speak inward, or say it aloud. Express what you are grateful for in the moment, or life in general.
Everyday practice will get easier and we are getting ready to master the gratitude practice as we do regular. Mastering anything takes time and regular efforts.
Second, really FEEL it
We know gratitude practice is good for us. I started writing down the list of what I’m grateful for. It's usually my health, my family, the tea I am drinking or the special occasions of the day. But do I really feel grateful every time when I was writing down? yes sometimes. But honestly, it feels like chores time to time. Furthermore, what I realize is after writing the list, my gratitude soul and positive vibe go away quickly when things get tough or don’t work out. I easily get frustrated. Then, if I were the person really grateful for my life, would the trivial obstacles really get to me in a way like frustration or disappointment? probably not.
When we practice our gratitude, the key here is we need to 'Feel' it. Feel it so deeply that we almost have goose bump all over to be so thankful. Take time to do it. I start doing this because gratitude without feeling it doesn't last long.
Third, find gratitude in negative situations
Admit we face undesirable situations, people, and events. Life happens. We stuck in traffic middle of the street when there's a really important meeting to go. We work so hard on something to succeed and it didn’t work out no matter how hard we worked. When that happens, it's easy complain. But we know it doesn't get better by complaining.
When you feel that way, look around. Physically, lift your head up and look around. Bring attention to physical surroundings. There's at least one thing we can find it amusing or nice. The negative situation is just a little part of 360 degree of life. When you face the bad situation, look the other side what's working than not working or great. There's a real benefit to practice gratitude especially when things get tough.
Fourth, any time and any where
Building this super power of being thankful anytime and any where is a true strength. No one can take it away. It only brings us more opportunities and abundance in life because we intentionally choose to be grateful. Life is a blessing, learning, experiments. Therefore we feel deeply grateful. It’s a trainable skill we can do it anytime anywhere. As buddha said, the pain is not avoidable but suffering is optional. When we master the gratitude practice, we can be grateful any time and anywhere. It starts from our practice now any time and anywhere.
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