Let Gratitude Take You to a More Fulfilled Life

It has officially been a full year since the “panorama” took the world by storm and forced all of us to stay inside the house. As quarantine mandates marched on and the days of us jauntily interacting amongst each other shaking the hands and hugging people we had never met before seemed only a distant memory. Each passing day and each passing week seemed at first like a new opportunity usually only granted to us as we step into a new year. It seemed everyone had found a new sense of motivation. A drive and a desire to not let the bleak unknown take our fervor for life. We went on walks, did yoga, learned how to bake bread from scratch, how to invest in stocks, how to write code, how to make candles, and received a crash course in how to work Zoom, though some still aren’t completely sure when they’ve shut off their camera.

Though I went into 2020 with a desire to improve my overall mindfulness but as the year played out motivation waned. I found myself falling into daily patterns to the point each day had the same natural progression down to the event. Thinking, “ya know what nothing matters, we have at least another year of this anyway.”

As spring time rolls around again this year and we’re a little bit past the year to date the quarantine went into effect. I feel a sense of rejuvenation in the air. This year I opted to venture to take a bit more of a simplistic approach that I wanted to bring into my daily life rather than activities to get me in the right mindset and help propel me throughout my day.

That approach is to practice gratitude.

Simply put this approach just helps me not worry so much, something that I’m sure tons of us were doing on a regular basis over the last year.

The benefits of practicing gratitude are nearly endless. The idea is simple but like most things that can be beneficial for us can take some time to truly become second nature. All one needs to do to practice gratitude is take time to reflect on the things in your life that you are grateful for. Now some may say that they have nothing to be grateful or thankful for but that simply isn’t the case. Everyone is different but the trick is to just find one thing in life that you can appreciate and the gratitude train will take off from there. According to mindful.org and positivepsychology.com people who regularly practice gratitude experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems.

Now my life is far from perfect, and it isn’t even quite to the point I saw for myself when I was younger and with that I have my down in the dumps days and it smacks me as soon as I fully open my eyes.

The best thing about practicing gratitude is that it presents itself in every little way possible. With opening your eyes, taking your first conscious breaths of the day, taking your first steps. Practicing gratitude allows you to release your appreciation for everything you currently have and taking the time to acknowledge that makes room for the things to come.

Now don’t let me fool you, I’m not adding on an additional 30 seconds to every part of my day to express my gratitude. What I have found though, is it is a great way to jump start your day. It heightens your awareness of the little things surrounding us every day. Practicing gratitude helps shift your perception of all these things by shifting what we focus on day to day moment to moment.

What I do to practice gratitude is start off the day simply expressing my thankfulness for seeing another day. That usually diverts my mind to the view outside of my window which is hopefully nice and bright blue. I’ll hop out of bed and head to my balcony to feel some of that fresh air all whilst taking little mental notes expressing my appreciation for being able to see, being able to walk around without impairment.

You can practice this in all aspects of your life. The trick is to find new things every so often that you can be thankful for. Start with little stuff; get as specific as you want, your favorite things about life and that practice, that mindfulness will trickle into all other aspects of your life. You’ll be shocked how something so simple can help transform your mindset and your life.

If you’re up and active in the morning sans time to stop and smell the roses you can do things like keep a gratitude journal but I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that I have to reintroduce myself to my journal every couple of days. Some articles I’ve read have helped me tremendously in putting some focus to my thinking. Google is without a doubt our best friend of the 21st century, and like with most things a simple google search can lend you a cornucopia of information “how to practice gratitude” and you’re on your way.

The best thing about it is as I stated previously, practicing gratitude helps open your eyes to more. A great trick to help reinforce the mindset is to also practice gratitude socially. Extend that appreciation to your peers, whether it's something new that comes up or something old that you never fully expressed your gratitude for. Opening that door in your social circles can be a great way to keep the energy flowing and may even open the door to some conversations you all have never had.