Life continuously puts us in situations that test our endurance.

When we get through a difficult moment, we sometimes fail to express thanks. This post will teach you how daily thankfulness practice may help you become a better person in life, as well as why you should exhibit gratitude.

People often take their lives for granted. We give in to the allure of another person’s life, denying ourselves the gift of life. We forget what we have now.

The basic pleasures of life are sometimes overlooked as we focus on the daily negatives. I, too, suffered from a bad attitude toward life a few years ago. Constantly moaning about minor details did not help me change anything, but rather exacerbated the unpleasant environment around me.

So the negatives fueled further negatives, leaving me feeling demotivated and dissatisfied most of the time.

But I was always looking for a break in my conduct since the ‘Fire’ within me was urging me to change and get out of that life rut. Only then did I come across a small piece of advice from a doctor I met by chance, and it impacted me enough to finally shift my perspective and thought pattern about life.

FAITH in GRATITUDE.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is the expression of admiration and thankfulness when you witness a concrete or intangible event unfolding as a success in life. Simply explained, thankfulness is the act of expressing appreciation for all the good things you already have in your life.

The good things can vary between a small privilege of wearing socks when your feet feel cold or something mighty like having a roof over your head. The idea of gratitude practice is to look more for what you have in life now, rather than counting what you don’t!

Why should you practice gratitude?

Practicing thankfulness has a positive impact on your mindset and thoughts. Gratitude makes you humble and compassionate toward others and yourself.

Even after being gifted with so many things to be thankful for in life, we always cry and lament over not having enough.

The desire for more causes you to become impatient and unaware that what you are receiving is far superior to that of many others. This bad sense of feeling less yet having more becomes a burden.

Here comes the magic of practicing gratitude where you start the habit of showing your appreciation for the already good things done in your life.

Remember gratitude is not a trick to make you feel more, it is the act of you showing yourself how much fortunate you are for all that God has blessed upon you.

Below are the reasons why making gratitude an integral part of your life can make a huge difference to the person you are:

1)   It Shapes your Mindset to Positivity:

With thankfulness, your thinking shifts from negative to positive. As your mind encourages you to reprogram the old negative and restrictive thoughts, what you have is transformed into a more positive and comfortable experience. You begin to feel more than satisfied with what you have and gratefully acknowledge your current blessings to everyone who has contributed to your life.

2)   The Practice of Gratitude Saves You:

By practicing thankfulness every day, you can avoid becoming engulfed in a destructive emotional maelstrom. You’ll be liberated from habitual negative feelings and whiny dispositions. When you begin your day whining about your circumstances, the bad feeling intensifies the negativity throughout the day. It completely ruins your day, leaving you with nothing exciting to look forward to. Your level of productivity at work decreases when you lose focus.

3)   Gratitude practice changes your life:

With daily gratitude your thought pattern changes. Your normal routine of saying ‘Why does this keep happening to me? ‘ or ‘What bad weather to start my day  changes to something like

‘ I am grateful for this new day with a lot of opportunity‘ or ‘ I am grateful for my work to afford all the comforts of life ‘.

Your attitude towards your daily life shifts when you start practicing gratitude which makes you look at your surroundings with a new positive outlook.

4.) Gratitude Improves Your Relationships:

Expanding your gratitude practice to your parents, family members, kids, spouse, friends, and even strangers who have a major contribution to shaping you up is a positive way to improve your relationship with them.

A word of gratitude in way of respect, a tight hug, at least being close to them or showing your parents how grateful you are for their presence and love in your life will make you feel that warm fizz in your heart! Making your parents feel how valuable they are in your life even if you are an independent person will surely improve your relationship with them. This makes you humble.

A small thank you to your friends or a stranger is also a way to show gratitude. The love and value you show them through gratitude or appreciation will only amplify strong bonds from the other side too. Your relationship is going to get better.

5)   Improves Self-worth and Self-esteem:

Continually cultivate appreciation for the kindness in your environment and in other people. Having gratitude helps you see the bright side of life and becomes content with it. You are more valuable when you believe in yourself.

Having gratitude in your mind naturally provides you the ability to recognize other people’s achievements without feeling envious. You already realize how much you have to be thankful for, and you take pleasure in other people’s accomplishments.

6)   Improves mental and physical well-being:

Your mental health is a direct result of your daily thankfulness. When it is practiced, gratitude is a good feeling that lowers stress, envy, jealously, and irritation. It is a vital tool that can help you recover from any challenging situations in life.

Your physical well-being will get better with reduced aches or pain as the motivation to exercise will be in top gear!

7)   Gratitude improves your sleep:

One experiences a sense of fulfillment in humility when they are in harmony with the practice of expressing appreciation to God and the people in their life.

These feel-good factor helps you to remain calm and follow a timely sleeping pattern congenial for your overall health.

How can you cultivate appreciation on a daily basis?

You are free to implement any of the daily thankfulness exercises that are described below. Start with your gratitude exercise, that’s the objective. Keep it easy and don’t consider it to be just another tedious task for the day.

By beginning small and establishing a consistent routine of gratitude, you can broaden your perspective. Steer clear of anything that causes you to feel overwhelmed or behind schedule in completing all of these appreciation exercises! You will begin to learn a great deal of little things about the environment that contribute to a happy and fulfilling existence.

Be truly grateful for the small things in life and cherish them. Making a constant effort to be grateful will be made easier for you with the kinds of gratitude practices listed below.