Importance of gratitude and thankfulness in life

Gratitude is an important element of living a healthy life.

The habit of gratitude can be cultivated, even though inherently some people are more thankful and gracious than others. The most important part is to be thankful to God and be able to count your blessings.

I just love this hymn – Count your blessings

When upon life’s billows you are tempted, tossed. When you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings and name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Modern research has proved that expressing thanks or gratitude to God and others can lead to a happy, healthy and stress free life.

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Some of the points to be kept in mind while understanding gratitude and thankfulness are:

1. Writing down your thankful thoughts in your diary

People who have kept their gratitude diaries have confirmed that it reinforces positive thoughts and leads to huge wellness benefits. Usually the brain tends to focus mainly on the wrong and bad things in life. But when you consciously make an effort to write down the good things and be thankful about them, you are consciously taking efforts to work in that direction. Make it a daily and disciplined habit to remember all the good things such as gifts, grace and benefits that you enjoy . This works just like exercise for your mind and heart.

The result is contentment and satisfaction leading to happiness.

2. Gratitude helps us to value small things in life

Small acts of kindness starts the whole chain of cultivating gratitude. You will always see that thankful people will acknowledge or will come forward and try to pay back any act of kindness or love. They will bring a word of encouragement or give a simple compliment which will touch our hearts. They value small things in life and so are able to be happy and contented with little things in life. Be mindful of small things around you like when you go for a walk, look at the sky, enjoy the chirping birds, rains, trees, flowers etc. When you are mindful of these small things you are consciously training your mind to live in the present and be grateful about these things. This helps to alleviate fear and anxieties of the future, concerns of the past  and will help you keep focused in the present moment.

3. Gratitude helps forge and build relationships

Thankful people always remember people associated in their life journey. They know the importance of their loved ones, family and friends and will take efforts to strengthen relationships. Appreciation for a loved one always encourages you to bond closely. Others are able to see and receive your love by how you look at them. Send small thank you notes telling people, how much you appreciation their time and effort. Talk about gratitude in the family. Set aside a time, such as during the evening meal to talk about the things that you were grateful for today. Each member can share a few things and this will go a long way in cultivating gratitude habits in your children.

4. Remembering the hard times

It is good to remember the hard times and then compare it with your current state. When you make a conscious effort to remember how difficult life used to be and then compare it with how far you have moved ahead in life by the Grace of God, your mind and heart becomes a fertile ground for gratefulness.

5. Prayers of gratitude

The first form of expressing gratitude starts with being grateful to your creator i.e. God almighty. If you are grateful and thankful to God, then the same would reflect in your personal being and you will be thankful and grateful to people around you. Prayers should be an important part of your daily life. It is your time to have a conversation with God and so use this time to be thankful and grateful to God. Meditating on God’s word always encourages and refreshes your soul.

6. Be sensitive to visual reminders

We have five senses i.e. to see, hear, smell, taste and touch . All these sense organs can trigger appreciation and gratefulness. The main obstacles for gratitude are forgetfulness and lack of awareness. So we need to be sensitive of things around us and find an opportunity to be grateful.

7. Use of kind language

You will always find grateful people having a kind tongue. They will always be speaking of love, blessings, kindness, joy and abundance. Gratitude takes the focus off yourself and puts it on appreciating what good things others have done for you. Also the use of right positive words is absolutely essential. Words are life and death, when they are spoken. Avoid negative language completely. For e.g. instead of saying “ I am so dumb with these maths sums”,  You can say “I am having difficulty in solving this math sums”. This stresses the important point i.e. the problem is not you but there is difficulty in solving the problem and you can overcome it.

8. Volunteering 

Volunteering for service kindles gratitude. Every body needs help some time or the other. When you volunteer, you are demonstrating your love by going that extra step. Most of the time doctors who have served in free medical camps in remote places come back transformed. They value this experience as it touches their hearts and their perspective of looking at life changes drastically.

9. Use the Words “Thank you” as much as possible

Using this word “Thank You” will benefit you. You can thank God for the new day. You can thank the lift-men, sweeper, garbage collector, milkman and so on and so forth. Thanking people encourages a positive attitude. It is so easy. You can create a thankful atmosphere around you which in turn helps remove fear, depression, anxieties and anger and makes you more peaceful and happy.

Remember people who are thankful are not living an easier life but by making that choice of being thankful and grateful has benefited them.

Today it is your decision whether you want your life to be healthy, joyous and contented or otherwise.

To know more , Please click here Gratitude books


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