Posted almost 8 years ago

Why Gratitude Will Change Your Life

Gratitude is an amazing thing. It can change your mood in an instant. It can make you forget about what is going wrong in your life. It will make you focus on what is most important.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." John F. Kennedy

I have been writing down what I am grateful for every day this year. Started Jan 1st. (No not some New Years Resolution thing). And I love it. I love thinking about all the things that I do have. Its important for me to reflect on what I already have daily because I am always pushing for more everyday. There is nothing wrong with wanting more, but do not forget about what you have.

Every morning I write one thing I am grateful to start my day. Grateful for opening my eyes, grateful for my daughter, grateful for a ceiling fan or heater, grateful for my bed. It doesn't have to be profound. In fact sometimes the simplest thing is the best. Then at night I write down 5 things I am grateful for. Either something that happened that day or something small that we take for granted. Or something more profound like my daughter taking her first step or saying her first word.

"Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance." Eckhart Tolle

I have a nice hard back gratitude journal that I use every night. I have a weird obsession with journals LOL and this happened to be one I had for a while but never used. It inspires me. Yet it is not necessary to have something like that. A spiral bound notebook or a pad of paper will work. Its about getting these things you are grateful for written down.

As this journey of writing what I am grateful every day has gone on I have noticed changes in my life.

I am even more optimistic than before.
I am less materialistic.
I am happier after I write what I am grateful for.
I am more fulfilled with my life after I write what I am grateful for.

How does writing what we are grateful for make us happy? One explanation is that acting happy coaxes one’s brain into processing positive emotions. In a 1993 experiment, researchers asked human subjects to smile forcibly for 20 seconds while tensing facial muscles. They found that this action stimulated brain activity associated with positive emotions.

If grinning for an uncomfortably long time like a scary lunatic isn’t your cup of tea, try expressing gratitude instead. Gratitude stimulates the same part of the brain that is associated with positive emotions. It’s science, but also common sense: Choosing to focus on good things makes you feel better than focusing on bad things.

Get a piece of paper, write what you are grateful for every day and watch your world change.