According to research, focusing on the things that you’re grateful for is a rewarding way that will make you feel happier and fulfilled. Scientific studies have also found that gratitude is associated with greater happiness, new and lasting relationships, better health and happiness, fewer aches and pains, more alertness and determination, and better sleep.
The thing is, not everyone feels grateful. In fact, a lot of people struggle to feel grateful. For one, more often than not, it is difficult to acknowledge what we have. This usually happens when you stop paying attention due to a busy life.
Another thing is that many people fail to feel gratefulness because it reminds them of what they lacked in the past. It’s easy to think that getting something we want after not having it for a long time would make a person grateful, however, many people still face challenges in accepting love and expressing gratitude when they experience something different from what they have been used to.
This happens due to the subconscious awakening old sadness about what was lacking in the past, hence, a person tends not to feel grateful.
Despite all these, it is still possible to feel grateful and you can practice it every day. How?
1. Keep In Mind That It Is Not An Attitude
No, gratitude is not an attitude. No one is born in this world with an attitude of gratitude. Instead, it is a transformative inner action that you must work on to feel it. One of the things that you should always remember is that gratitude is not experienced in the head. The actual feeling occurs first in the heart due to choosing to take that inner action to be grateful. Feeling grateful is an internal experience that arises when we acknowledge love and goodness.
2. Be Grateful Despite the Conditions
A lot lot of us would let ourselves be grateful when we’re happy with how things are. Indeed, it is easy to be grateful when we like what’s going on in our lives. But what happens when we are faced with negativity? Gratitude will not mean anything if you are grateful conditionally. It would be all for nothing when the slightest thing goes wrong and you become angry and feelings of gratefulness evaporate into thin air.
What is okay and what isn’t okay are not always right when it comes to gratefulness. What if, instead, you be grateful despite the condition? What if you try to feel grateful despite the discomfort? You can acknowledge an uncomfortable time but still let yourself feel grateful for the lessons that you’re learning and the people who are there for you.
3. Be More Mindful
When you are mindful, you become more present in your own body and for your life. Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose in the present moment, with no judgment at all, and seeing it like your life depended on it. Being mindful will not take up so much of your energy.
When you are more mindful, you let your thoughts and feelings flow without getting lost in them. It lets you stay more connected to the people around you and see what you’ve been missing. Mindfulness must be practices continuously because it’s an effective way to tap into feelings of gratitude.
So, are you ready to feel more grateful?