Practice Gratitude

Much good would come if you began and ended each day focusing on that for which you are grateful. Melody Beattie said, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Gratitude has enormous benefits. Among them, giving thanks:
1. Unlocks and unleashes a kind of spiritual energy which cannot be accessed other than by means of giving thanks. The end result: a state of “gratitude” or “gratefulness.” Gratitude promotes peace, comfort and life-satisfaction.
2. Opens the heart and mind to the present and the world around you.
3. Tenderizes the heart and prepares it to receive joy and risk love.
4. Generates the sense of personal well-being and that things are as they should be, that ultimately everything will be all right, eternally.
5. Spurs on and strengthens faith and hope.
6. Diminishes boredom, cynicism and skepticism.
7. Alleviates depression, suffering and burnout.
And even though you may not have the power to instantly become grateful or to feel gratitude, as if turning on a light switch, you can nevertheless always give thanks by word and deed. The amazing thing is, the sheer act of giving of thanks by word and deed for the good you have, will actually generate gratitude. That is, your voicing and acting out of gratitude, while focusing on positive elements of your life, be they seemingly few in number, will of itself generate a sense of gratitude.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow discovered after recovering from a life-threatening heart attack, that “We tend to overvalue what we do not have and to undervalue what we do have.” Grateful to be alive, he realized how seriously he had undervalued – or taken for granted – his prior health. He also recognized how profoundly important were his wife and children. Maslow now marveled at the beauty of nature and the inherent gift quality of daily life. He finally understood that everything in life is a sheer gift, from his body to his relationships.
The ancient sages had a principle called “sufficiency.” It asserted that whatever good life offers you is actually “sufficient” for your needs. It may not be sufficient for all your wants, but it is definitely sufficient to your actual needs. Oscar Wilde maintained that the two worst tragedies in life are these: either not getting what you want, or getting what you wanted. Though meant humorously, there is much truth here. So few of us get everything we want, but surprising most all of us get what we need. And getting what you want may not be what you really need.
Here are some daily practices to increase your gratitude:
Take time each morning to give thanks for something.
Start a “Gratitude Journal” daily, writing even one thing you are grateful for that day.
Practice giving thanks and noting reasons for gratitude every day.
Express gratitude and say “thank you” at every reasonable opportunity.
Note the positive impact on your life, health, relationships and sense of well-being.
Do a breathing exercise: breathe in the gift of the breath of life, which is the constant presence of air/oxygen/spirit; then breathe out gratitude and thankfulness for air and life.
If you delay giving thanks until everything is the way you want it, you might never get to give thanks, let alone feel grateful. “Practice giving thanks until you have it; then, give thanks.”