4 Ways Gratitude Makes Life Better

Gratitude is like vegetables. We all know it’s good for us and yet some of us choose to add the value to our lives while others choose to opt out.

Okay, that may be a stretch but hang with me now. I believe that sometimes, we don’t give ourselves enough credit. We actually do know the right things to do most of the time, it’s just that we don’t do them. It hurts sometimes to get real with ourselves but the sooner we do, the sooner we reap the benefits.

Gratitude is like vegetables. We all know it’s good for us and yet some of us choose to add the value to our lives while others choose to opt out.

Gratitude is not just a state of being, but a daily, deliberate practice. Instead of seeing all that’s wrong, gratitude sees all that’s right. If you know people that are intentionally grateful (yes, it does take some intention to be grateful), then you know that they seem to live such full lives in a way that you may be lacking. Gratitude does take some effort, but like any other exercise, as you train your “gratitude muscle” it will get stronger over time and become a habitual way of life.

4 Ways Gratitude Makes Life Better

1. Gratitude focuses on what you do have versus what you don’t have. It comes from a stance of seeing and acknowledging all that you already have and choosing to be grateful.
2. Gratitude forsakes “feelings” for truth. You may not always feel grateful but you can choose to be grateful and say what you’re grateful for. To refer back to the exercise analogy, we may not always feel like working out, but we do because we know it’s a good choice and when we finish it, we’ll be glad that we did. When you press past your feelings and just start saying or writing down what you’re grateful for, it’s like an announcement to your whole body that you are not led strictly by feelings. You can make right choices despite feeling elsewise.
3. Gratitude puts you in a right mindset to be generous. If you feel like you have nothing, then you’re probably not going to give anything. But with gratitude, you can see how much you already have (resources, time, energy, etc.) and you’re more likely to be generous. Generosity, like kindness, begets generosity, meaning you’re more likely to see a ripple effect of positive change through being generous.
4. Gratitude helps you handle disappointment with a hopeful outlook. When you’re hoping for something and then let down, disappointment can trigger discouragement. But with gratitude, we can look at disappointment from a different lens. One closed door doesn’t mean that all doors are closed. One rejected opportunity is paving the way to a better opportunity. Gratitude sees everything as a tool for learning and steers us to stay on track, remain hopeful and believe the best about our future.

So what can you be grateful for today?