How many times have we heard the words “be grateful”. Oh yes! Let us start by first having a look and define what gratitude is. Gratitude is the natural quality inside us when we are thankful for what we do, have and are.
Its when you are ready to show appreciation for anything and return the gesture with indness. More often than not, we find ourselves taking everything for granted.
When I introduced this culture of gratitude into my daily routine, I started by taking 10 minutes before I go to bed to say “thank you” and be grateful for 3 things in my life during that day. I have to admit that at first it was not easy. I was repeating myself each day to be thankful for the same things each day.
Not that that is not good but then I learned how to think deeply and absorb the little details. Have you ever been thankful for :
- Opening your eyes each morning and getting out of bed to start a new day?
- Having soap and clean water to wash and thinking about the workers who made that soap ?
- The air you breathe?
- The food you have on the table?
- The house you live in?
- The job you have
- Being healthy to wake up in the morning to go to work
- Being able to buy clothes to wear, the people who had sawn those clothes
- And so much more………..
You start opening up your mind to endless possibilities of what to be grateful for. Little things count too. Yet why is it important to have the gratitude attitude? It is proven in science that the exercise and onsciousness of gratitude changes something in our system that makes us feel good. And when you feel good that enriches your general well being and you start attracting more goodness into your life.
I do encourage you to try and introduce this in your everyday routine and share with us the changes you
experience. Let us build a community here to help each other because sharing is caring.
Let us take a step further…….it becomes easy to be thankful for the good things, big or small. So now how are we going to put the same effort and energy to be grateful for the not so good things too?
This may sound confusing, isn’t it and you might be saying to yourself – why would I be grateful for something which is not completely positive? Let us take an example to be able to understand more clearly.
Let us say someone you know, someone whom you have trusted and treated as a friend disappoints and hurts you in one manner or other. In this situation how can you be grateful, and grateful for what? Firstly we have to acknowledge the hurt, the anger, the disbelief because if we don’t it will seep through in the subconscious.
Then we have to move on and take the episode as a learning for both parties. In this regard which part does gratitude play its part? Just be grateful to get to know whom to trust, just be grateful for having met the person in your life and be grateful that maybe its time to let go the people who have hurt you. Got it !!!!!!!!
Its not over. Let us talk about gratitude in the present moment for something that you will have in the future. Yoohoo what is that ????? Did you know that gratitude in advance is so powerful. How can that happen. OK let us build another scenario to be able to understand more simply.
Let us imagine that you want a new car and you are saving for a new car. You know exactly what car you want, the colour, the shape, the model and in your mind’s eye you can see yourself driving that car, owning that car in your imagination.
How about you spend a minute to be grateful for that car before it comes to you? Will it change anything? Logistically no, because you are still saving to buy the car and you don’t have it yet. But it will make a difference to how you feel and make the expectation of its arrival to you more exciting.
Above all else being grateful before it happens strengthens your belief and belief is the correct pathway to manifesting great things in your life.
Feeling grateful that you are reading this and maybe just one word, one phrase, one sentence is making a difference to your life.
Penned by Odette Chetcuti
