Much has been written on the advantages of living life in gratitude. This is because when you develop the practice of being grateful, you physically open the door for blessings to come into your life regularly. But you don’t have to wait for big things to happen to be grateful; those will come organically just by being glad for what you currently have… now, right now because you have learned how to practice gratitude. 

You see, if you start feeling grateful for things that others may take for granted regularly, not only will you begin living life in gratitude, you will be establishing a loop that goes from feeling grateful to amazing things occurring in your life to feeling happy to feeling grateful all over again… and again… It creates a positive loop that can only become better as time goes on as you are living life in gratitude. 

 

What exactly is gratitude?

Saying “Thank You” is the most basic sign of gratitude.  To whom and why should we say “thank you”? Let us begin by considering why we should say “thank you” or demonstrate gratitude as well as how to practice gratitude. 

Gratitude is significant since it is a mind vibration with a strong Positive Energy. It’s also really attractive. According to one author, it ties us to the Source. We cannot wield much power unless we are grateful since gratitude is what ties us to power. Because we become what we think about the most, we attract more of what we are grateful for when we express appreciation by living life in gratitude. 

We were encouraged to perceive our goals as already attained and to say “thank you” immediately. Show your appreciation right now. This is a strong approach to guarantee that we are focusing our good energy on what we desire.

Based on everything we’ve explored so far, it’s clear that gratitude plays a significant role in attracting more of what we desire. So why aren’t more people following this basic universal rule of living life in gratitude?

Because of the scarcity mindset that has been implanted in us, most individuals are hesitant to feel appreciative. This is why learning how to practice gratitude is so important. We believe there isn’t enough in the world to go around and that we must battle or struggle to achieve what we want. Let’s take a look at how bountiful this world is, and we’ll find that scarcity is a fallacy.

Everything in the world is energy, according to science. Do we have a lot of this raw material? Let’s see what happens. According to a recent poll, we only use 4% of the available energy in the universe. That indicates there is 96 percent left over. As a result, we may conclude that the cosmos is abundant and enough for everyone. When we are living life in gratitude, we recognize how abundant life is and how much life has to offer us.

So let us choose to focus on abundance and dispel the scarcity fallacy. We have the option of creating our success rather than competing for a restricted supply. We empower ourselves when we generate our success. When we have success and prosperity in mind, we may be more grateful. “Thank you.” 

Living Life in Gratitude and Stress

According to research, grateful people are happier, have higher life satisfaction, and are less stressed. People who have learned how to practice gratitude are less likely to be sad, worried, lonely, or neurotic. However, it appears that thankful individuals do not live in a state of denial. They do not turn a blind eye to the bad aspects of their existence.

Professor of psychology Robert Emmons describes gratitude as “a felt sensation of amazement, thankfulness, and appreciation for life.”

To various individuals, living life in gratitude might signify different things. In its most basic form, it can be used to express gratitude for a gift or service. For you learning how to practice gratitude,  may mean being grateful when you avoid a bullet or overcome a traumatic event.

The term may take on a religious connotation, expressing gratitude to a higher force for imparting kindness and “counting your blessings” for others living a life of gratitude learning how to practice gratitude. Others may feel grateful when others are less fortunate than they are. (A less admirable variation of this is when a person “compares downward,” spotting those who have less money, success, beauty, or knowledge and feeling grateful to be better off.)

The link between thankfulness and stress may not be clear at first. After all, why should I feel less disturbed if I am grateful for something? This is how it works:

Living a life of Gratitude helps you to step away from a stressful situation and relish a pleasant recollection or event. This positive attention might lead to a feeling of well-being. This might help you forget about your problems and upsets. Remember that it’s difficult to think of two things at once. You’re probably less stressed if you’re feeling grateful.

Learning how to practice gratitude can improve your self-esteem. When you express gratitude, you acknowledge that people care about you and have gone out of their way to help you. This can boost your positive self-image while decreasing negative, self-deprecating thoughts.

When you express thankfulness to others, you feel better about yourself since you acknowledge and emotionally give to them. Giving to others almost always helps you feel better about yourself as you are living a life of gratitude.

Gratitude lifts you out of a negative mind frame. A large portion of your stressed thinking is automatic. You can sink if you focus on your unpleasant experiences. By living a life of gratitude, you direct your thoughts in a more positive direction. You feel healthier and less stressed.

Read Also: 5 Ways To Achieve Your Dreams

As you learn how to practice gratitude you learn gratitude helps to put things into perspective. Gratitude gives you a sense of balance, which can help you avoid thoughts of hopelessness and despair, both of which can contribute to stress.

Gratitude for others can help to build and strengthen relationships. You feel better about yourself, and others feel better about you as a result.

The added benefit is receiving a grateful response from the individual to whom you express gratitude. Most of the time, this can brighten your day and reduce your stress.

Why is it good for us to learn how to practice gratitude?

Science has shown that being grateful improves one’s quality of life by living in gratitude. People who show gratitude daily live longer, are healthier, and have a decreased risk of being overweight, obese, stressed, anxious, or suffering from chronic disease. The following seven advantages are only a handful of the numerous advantages of practicing gratitude daily and learning how to practice gratitude.

1 – Positive Relationships

Living life in gratitude involves reminding the people who matter in your life that they are important to you. On a daily level, this strengthens your connections.

2 – Stress Reduction

Worrying about what you don’t have causes a lot of stress. When you are under mental or emotional stress, your body produces stress hormones. These have a detrimental influence on your body, creating physical and emotional health issues. Learning how to practice gratitude by being appreciative relieves stress, which leads to a better body and mind.

3 – You Socialise More

Humans are social creatures. We were not meant to live a life of unity. People who are not appreciative of the blessings in their lives prefer to avoid others. They burrow up in their houses, cultivating a pessimistic perspective of the world. When you value the people and things in your life, you naturally want to socialise more to reap even more grateful advantages as you are living life in gratitude.

4 – You Get More Sleep

The precise scientific and physiological links between gratitude and improved health are unknown. That is not to say that good impacts observed in grateful people cannot be documented. Scientists and sleep experts have shown that persons who express gratitude daily have improved sleep habits. This improves both mental and physical health in a variety of ways as you learn how to practice gratitude.

5 – Expressing Gratitude Increases Happiness

Several studies have found that maintaining a gratitude journal regularly can improve your long-term well-being. According to one research, merely writing down what you are grateful for every day can improve your health and well-being by more than 10%. According to those research, those persons that learned how to practice gratitude quadruple their money have the same degree of happiness!

6 – People Like You Because You Are Grateful

This one is simple to grasp in learning how to practice gratitude. When you tell someone they are important to you, that they matter, they feel better. They want to be near you. They will frequently reciprocate your gratitude. You become a more pleasant person when you make an effort to show your gratitude to people rather than leaving it unspoken and presumed as you are living life in gratitude.

7 – Gratefulness Helps to Overcome Depression

The Positive Psychology Progress project intended to explore how everyday appreciation affected those who were depressed. The end product was nothing short of amazing. Keeping a gratitude journal “reduced depression symptoms by 30 percent or more for as long as the practice was maintained.” When research volunteers made a personal visit to someone and expressed their gratitude, that one contact “reduced depressed symptoms by 35% over several weeks.”

7 Ways of How to Practice Gratitude Every Day

1) Make it a game. Make it a game to notice new things, actions, and people to be grateful for as you are living life in gratitude. Begin with something little, such as someone holding the door for you or thinking about a stranger’s smile as something to be grateful for. Those folks owed you nothing, but you felt good when they did those things, so be grateful for them providing you with pleasant energy through their acts, and be sure to give that energy straight back out.

2) Ritual of Gratitude. Another option when you are living life of gratitude is to plan when you will express your gratitude. Begin, for example, by expressing gratitude at the start of each day when you’re brushing your teeth in the morning or cooking breakfast, glance at yourself in the mirror. You may even focus on how to practice gratitude before going to bed.

3) Stick to your beliefs. There will be moments when you don’t have the energy to feel like you can learn how to practice gratitude regularly, but that is precisely when you will need it the most. Many people find it difficult living life in gratitude but if you select things to be grateful for since they are bombarded by bad energy and situations this can helpful. You can notice when this occurs and look for the silver lining. Create the energy to consider the silver lining and begin to consider what is wonderful and positive in your life. Being grateful for the fact that you are alive is a good place to start as you are living life of gratitude. 

4) Take a moment of how to practice gratitude. With our fast-paced existence, it is essential to halt from time to time, take a step back, breathe, and focus on the major things. Even when we are sad, angry, confused, or have experienced someone being unkind to us, remembering our blessings may re-centre us and provide a fresh perspective on dealing with what is in front of us.

5) Create the space. Create a space for how to practice gratitude at home and/or at work. Put images of loved ones, a trinket that means something to you, and a motivational statement that makes you feel good on a table or in a location where you can go to give thanks for your blessings. Perhaps a scented candle that reminds you of happy memories as you are living life in gratitude.

6) Be expressive. Simply expressing your gratitude to your partner, friends, or family members can boost your self-esteem. Telling them how glad you are to have them in your life will increase their gratitude and deepen your relationship with them. Allowing them to see how you see them will aid in the development of intimacy.

7) Surround yourself with optimism as you learn how to practice gratitude. In this day and age, it’s nearly hard to ignore social media entirely, so why not make use of it? Many individuals express their gratitude by uploading images and expressing their gratitude. If you do the same, you’ll be able to refer back to your posts whenever you need a reminder to be grateful.

Here’s one more suggestion:

8) Appreciate the Negativity. You could think about living life in gratitude for the bad things that happen in our lives. You read that correctly. Things go wrong, people are cruel, and life wears us down; it happens to the best of us. It is a blessing to recognize someone negative and resentful. Why? Because it teaches you a valuable lesson on how not to be and demonstrates how unattractive it appears to be the way they are. Thank them for instilling in you the virtues of grace, patience, modesty, and humility. When you or someone you love is critically ill, be grateful for your strength and the presence of loved ones who help you to be even stronger.

Now before we forget let’s look at the who in all of this… who can practise gratitude? –  well everyone of course, and to whom do we pay gratitude, well again to everyone and everything, simple. Even to situations or people who hurt us, give thanks for the lessons learned, the strength it showed you had to overcome, the new starts you made, the baggage you let go of. You know the old saying, every cloud has a silver lining, one must just look as they are living life in gratitude.

Conclusion

We, as humans, can choose how we behave, and we all make mistakes from time to time. Taking responsibility for our actions is difficult, but it keeps the darkness at bay. There is no question that when we show our gratitude, especially to others, we will feel better, more optimistic, raise our well-being, and improve our emotional recovery. Hopefully, you have now learned how to practice gratitude.

When we focus on our gratitude, we focus on what we have rather than what we don’t, which helps to put things into perspective. We start to value the non-materialistic components of our life that are meaningful and gratifying. Ungrateful individuals are preoccupied with materialistic items that they feel would make them happy and compare themselves to others. They have a checklist of tasks they believe they must do to achieve the maximum level of pleasure.

Living a life in gratitude increases happiness and more pleasant emotions, better mental health, better sleep, and even a stronger immune system. It takes time to acquire the talent of gratitude via commitment and daily practice.

But you can do it, so why not start today.

Thank you for reading and spending time with me.

I am grateful.