Gratitude (and not just in November)
November is the month of Thanksgiving and with that we hear a lot about gratitude. Now, I am all about practicing gratitude but let’s broaden our scope, shall we? Instead of just focusing on it in November, why not practice being grateful every day? You might be thinking – oh my gosh, Kelly, EVERY DAY?!?! And to that I say, yes. Every. Day. Why wouldn’t we take a moment each day to be grateful for something? Anything?
If you don’t have a daily gratitude practice, then I encourage you to at the very least think about starting one. Every night I write down three things I am grateful for that day. Even on heavy, hard days (and we all have them) there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for. Sometimes you may need to dig deep but I promise you can always find things to be grateful for.
No, I’m too busy excuses. My gratitude practice literally takes less than 2 minutes and there are all kinds of ways you can do it. You don’t need a fancy journal (but I won’t stop you if you buy one…I love journal shopping!). Frankly, the beauty of practicing gratitude is that it is free with SO much upside! Practicing gratitude can be through prayer, journaling, making a list, meditation or even just taking a moment to think about what you’re grateful for. There is not one way to practice gratitude, nor is there a right or wrong way to do it.
If you’re still hesitant to add one more thing to your plate, here are some “side effects” of practicing daily gratitude that may inspire you:
1. Practicing gratitude has a snowball effect. There is a quote by Robin S. Sharma that says, “What you focus on grows, what you think about expands, and what you dwell upon determines your destiny.” The more gratitude you practice, the more you will focus on things in your life that you are grateful for (creating less space for focusing on the negative!).
2. Having a consistent gratitude practice does the body good! Research out of UC Davis indicates that practicing gratitude has been shown to lower the stress hormone cortisol. Chronic high levels of stress have shown to negatively impact the body’s ability to fight illness (and let’s be honest, it can seem like this world is one big stress ball). Take matters into your own hands and take care of your body!
3. Gratitude helps us be in the moment. Society has created a world of numbness and we can find ourselves going through life in a fog. Practicing gratitude gets us out of that fog because it gets us to take a pause and bring us to the exact moment we are in. Practicing gratitude gets us out of thinking about the future or dwelling on the past but truly being in the here and now. Isn’t that how we should always live?
I hope this helps you think about creating your own gratitude practice. I am grateful for you!
