Thanksgiving is always a time to focus on gratitude. While it does make for a great reminder, gratitude is something that should be done regularly, not just one day a year. Read on to learn more about how to practice gratitude in daily life.
What is Gratitude?
Gratitude is simply being thankful for something in your life. It can be showing appreciation for someone doing something for you in your life or simply appreciation for something you enjoy.
Why Is Gratitude Important?
There are numerous benefits to regularly practicing gratitude. The main one is that it has an overall positive impact on your mental health.
Practicing gratitude can reduce your stress, increase your optimism, and increase your overall sense of well-being.
If you’d like to read more on the benefits of gratitude, you can check out this article by Psychology Today.
Ways to Practice Gratitude
There are several ways to actively practice gratitude in your daily life.
Journaling
One of the basic ways to practice gratitude in your daily life is to start a gratitude journal. You can write down anywhere from 1-5 items that occurred throughout the day you are thankful for.
These don’t have to be difficult – it can be simple, such as appreciating the way the sun hit the leaves on the trees or something cute your child said that day.
I started doing this a little over 2 years ago and have found it helpful. Personally, I like to do it right before I go to bed so I end the day with positive thoughts in my mind.
That’s not to say it is an easy practice. Some days are downright hard and coming up with something to be grateful for can be very difficult. However, I always make a point to write down at least one thing, no matter how simple it may be.
Usually, if I do, I can feel my mood increase slightly. Maybe not a lot, but just enough to notice.
Gratitude App
If you aren’t interested in journaling, you can use an app instead. I like the Gratitude app.
In the Gratitude app, you can set a reminder to put in your daily note of what you are thankful for. Not only that, but you can also attach a picture if you like.
In addition, it comes with positive quotes that change each day. You can also set reminders to do daily affirmations, which can help increase your self-esteem.
Definitely check it out because it has certainly had a positive influence on my life.
Mindfulness
Sometimes one of the easiest ways to be grateful is to be mindful of your present state. You can do this by using the 5-4-3-2-1 meditation discussed here.
As you are doing the meditation and being mindful of your current state, be grateful for what surrounds you. Take note of it and just appreciate what is there.
Savoring
Savoring is taking the time to fully experience and enjoy something.
A practical way to do this is to fully focus on a meal when you are eating it. Take the time to actually enjoy the flavors in the meal. Smell the scent the food has to offer.
The same could be done for your cup of morning coffee. Most people just drink the coffee and might not even notice it much. Take the time to fully experience the flavor of the coffee and the warmth of it going down your throat.
Take the time savoring to think about how enjoyable the experience is.
Express Your Gratitude
Take the time in your day to express your gratitude towards those in your life.
Maybe your husband finally did the massive pile of dishes that had been building up. Take the time to make sure you say thank you.
I know from experience this specific example can be hard – sometimes you may have pent-up resentment about the frequency in which your husband helps. That is time for a lengthier discussion you should have when you are calmer. However, try to take the time to think about how enjoyable it was, at least this once, to not have to do the dishes. Then, go thank him for it.
You could also think back to something nice someone had done for you previously.
An example of this could be that maybe sometime in the past, you were feeling a little left out and someone invited you to do something with them and their friends. You could write them a letter, note, or message to just let them know how much their small gesture meant to you at the time.
Alternatively, it could be something simple like letting your parents know that you love them and you are grateful for their presence in your life.
Prayer
For those who are religious, prayer can be a great way to regularly express your gratitude. You can work this in easily at times throughout the day.
You can pray before your meals to thank the Lord for the food. You can pray in the morning to thank Him for the present day. Similarly, you can do the same at night to thank Him for the day you had.
Gratitude Jar
A gratitude jar is something to collect the items you are thankful for in. You can set your own rules for how to use it.
Generally, what you could do is that each day, write a little note about something you are thankful for and stick it into the jar.
Then, on a specific day (could be Thanksgiving or New Year’s Day), open the jar and go through all the notes in the jar to see what you were thankful for over the course of the year. This can be a fun way to see the year in review.
Gratitude Collage
If you are a visual person, you could create a collage of all the things you are grateful for and hang it up to enjoy.
This could be printed out pictures of the things you are grateful for – family, friends, experiences, and places and hanging them up. You could also include quotes or letters you received that you particularly enjoy.
Practice Gratitude Regularly
I’ve heard that it is the things you do every day that matter more than the things you do once in a while. The same is true for practicing gratitude.
You can feel the benefits of practicing gratitude infrequently, but the impact won’t last like it would if you practiced gratitude every day.
Above you’ve learned how to practice gratitude in your daily life and a few of the benefits. Pick one of the ideas that sticks out the most to you to give it a try.
It may take a little while, but eventually, you too may notice the impacts it has in your daily life and the improvements to your mental health.
