We know it’s good to be grateful; it raises our vibration attracting more good things into our lives. Being in a state of gratitude makes us less fearful, angry etc. But there are times when gratitude is really hard, and that’s ok too. Practising gratitude can feel like it’s become the new ‘positively think your way through it’ approach. Which is not helpful if it means burying painful emotions. Although, if you want a way to make gratitude a daily practice, I love these simple ideas. I can’t wait to practice the first one with Zahra when she’s old enough.
1) List 10 things
This is easy to do if you make it part of your evening routine. Reflect on the day and think of ten things you are grateful for. Just use your fingers to count off 10 things whilst lying in bed. It’s a great way to calm your mind before sleeping. Although, I’ll often only get half-way through my list before I’ve drifted off to sleep.
2) This is good because…
This one is a lot harder to implement. It’s getting into the habit of seeing every difficult situation as a gift, as something you can learn from. It’s not about positive thinking your way through situations that are rubbish, but seeing the life lesson instead. The idea came from the author Jen Sincero who explains:
If you look for ways to be grateful for everything in your life, it not only raises your frequency, but it allows you to grow by opening you up to the lesson.
So when you miss your bus, or get your heart broken try listing the reasons why it is was a good thing.
3) ‘I get to’ not ‘I have to’
This little habit is one James Clear talks about in his brilliant book ‘Atomic Habits’. Instead of saying to yourself something along the lines of: ‘I have to go to the gym’. Replace it with ‘I get to go to the gym’. Reframing how we see our daily chores and tasks helps us see that we are privileged to be alive and be able to do these things. It helps increase our motivation for things we might feel half-hearted about. Like going to the gym.
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