With Thanksgiving coming up this Thursday, I wanted to share my thoughts on gratitude and how important it is for our wellbeing. Thanksgiving is meant to be a day when we sit around the table with family and loved ones to enjoy a meal together, preferably a vegan one (no turkeys please!), and express what we are grateful for. While this is a nice tradition that encourages us to be thankful for our blessings, gratitude should not be reserved for just holidays and special occasions. We should all practice some form of gratitude every single day, or as often as possible.
Why is gratitude so important?
It’s all about energy. The energy you put out into the universe is the energy you are going to receive in return. When you are grateful for all of the blessings present in your life, you are telling the universe that you have enough and you will attract more abundance. When you focus on any negatives in your life, you tell the universe that you are lacking and you will attract more of what you don’t want. Gratitude begets abundance while complaining begets scarcity. It’s up to you to decide what you want to attract.
Not only does gratitude play a role in the law of attraction but it also helps us improve our mindset and become more positive. Whenever I think about just a few things I have in my life to be grateful for, my mood immediately brightens. It makes some of my worries seem a little less significant because I remind myself that life could be worse. If you have family and friends who love and care about you, if you have pets, if you are healthy, if you can listen to your favorite songs and watch your favorite movies, if you can walk, if you can do your favorite form of exercise, if you’ve gone to school and have an education, if you have a job and have a source of income, then YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR. If you have access to clean water, if you always know you have another meal coming, if you have a roof over your head and a warm bed to sleep in at night, if you have electricity, internet, a smartphone, and laptop, if you have a car or bike that can take you where you want to go, if you have the means to travel to places on your bucket list, then YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR. The list can go on and on.
How can you make gratitude a daily practice?
Find something that works for you. One of the best ways to make gratitude a daily practice is to keep a gratitude journal that you write in every day. I use the 5-Minute Journal and love it but you can use any notebook and just write your own lists each day. Another great way to practice gratitude is to make a mental list either when you wake up or before going to bed of three or more things you are grateful for. This helps to start or end your day on a positive note. You can also be sure to practice gratitude in the moment, like when someone does something nice for you be sure to say thank you or when you see a cute dog or beautiful sunset, thank the universe.