Practicing Gratitude: Five Ways to Exercise Thankfulness
Published November 8, 2022
Oprah Winfrey once said that if you’re thankful for what you have, you’ll end up having more. But if you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never ever have enough.
This quote underlines the importance of practicing gratitude. Being thankful is the foundation of abundance. When you choose to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, it can change your perspective. It helps you appreciate your blessings instead of longing for the things you don’t have.
That’s why exercising thankfulness brings more abundance. It changes our attitude towards life. As a result, we tend to spend less time complaining and more time doing. We start to work hard for our dreams rather than blame everyone else for our misfortunes.
So if you’re ready to start your journey of gratitude, here are five ways to exercise thankfulness:
1. Keep a Gratitude Journal
As its name suggests, a gratitude journal is a personal record of all the things you’re thankful for. Think of it as a diary but instead of writing about your worries and heartaches, you only write about your blessings and the things you appreciate the most.
Keeping a gratitude journal helps you remember the things you’re thankful for at times when silver linings are so hard to find. When you feel like you don’t have any reason to go on, just take a quick look at your journal. Reading about the things that you were grateful for will remind you why you should still be thankful despite your troubles.
2. Thank the People Who Did Things for You
When was the last time you thanked a barista, a waiter, or even the cashier at your local grocery store? I bet that most of us don’t really notice them, much less thank them.
But without them, you won’t have your daily coffee fix and there’ll be no one to serve you your food or help you check out your groceries.
Yes, they’re paid to do that. But considering how hard it is to deal with different customers, a simple smile and a word of thanks can definitely make their day.
3. Gratitude Jar
The gratitude jar works a lot like a gratitude journal. But instead of writing about your gratefulness in a diary, you write them on thin slips of paper and drop them in a jar.
It doesn’t really matter what the jar looks like. You can decorate it to your heart’s desire. The important thing is to fill the jar with notes of the things that you’re thankful for.
So when someday you’ll need a little bit of cheering, just take out some of the notes. This will remind you of the things you have but which you’ve most likely taken for granted.
4. Gratitude Gallery
If you’re not much of a writer, then maybe you can try collecting gratitude pictures instead.
Every day, snap a photo of the things that you’re grateful for. It can be something as simple as the patch of wildflowers growing in your yard or grander ones like a family reunion or a romantic getaway with your loved one.
Gather these photos together and keep them in a scrapbook. Or better yet, hang them up in your room. It will not only make a nostalgic decoration but will also serve as a daily reminder of how blessed you are.
5. Stop and Appreciate
Sometimes, we become too focused on chasing our goals that we tend to take our blessings for granted.
That’s why it’s important to slow down once in a while and appreciate the things around us. From the beams of sunrays peeking over your window sill to the laughter of children playing in the garden. These are some of the things we barely notice much less appreciate.
So make sure to spend some time every single day to stop and just appreciate the things around you. You’ll be surprised at how many things you’ve taken for granted all this time.
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About The Author
Judy Ponio is a professional writer and devoted Christian. She has a passion for writing about topics related to morality and helping the poor and homeless. She is the lead author for the Our Father’s House Soup Kitchen blog.
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