How to Help Improve your Life with Gratitude

Hey guys! Welcome back to Everything Ami. Today we will be talking about gratitude, which is pretty wild considering I never thought I’d practice something enough to talk about it with others. I’m not an authority figure on this subject, of course, just someone who used to be incredibly negative for the majority of their life, one day said “enough!” and has seen her life slowly improve since. Gratitude is a not a miraculous cure-all for the sorrows in our lives, but it can be a powerful tool to aid us when those sorrowful times do occur. I recognize it’s not an easy habit to develop if the concept seems foreign as it did to me, so if you’d like to know how to incorporate gratitude into your life, read ahead for 4 beginner-friendly ways in which I’ve implement gratitude into my everyday life.

1) Don’t get discouraged if there’s “not a lot to be grateful for” and realize there actually is. It’s so important not to get discouraged before you’ve even begun so recognize that you can be grateful for literally anything: the warmth of your morning coffee, making time to read a good book, how good you look in your favorite shirt. You don’t have to acquire anything more than what you already have in order to be grateful for it. What matters is a positive intention and intensity of feeling towards what you are expressing gratitude for whether it’s something new or something you’ve always had.

2) Start where you are and then go from there. By this I mean that in order to be the kind of person who practices gratitude you don’t have to wait until you’re done with school and have your dream life in your dream city with the love of your life- but do keep those dreams in mind, too. It’s okay to aspire for more things if what you are focusing on is not the lack of but the feeling of having and gratitude. Don’t spend too much time in the future at the expense of the present, but know that you can channel through that feeling of hope and possibility for the future and anchor it to give thanks for the steps you’re taking now to get there. Again, it’s all about the positive intention behind it.

3) Gratitude can extend beyond material things and on to experiences and feelings. If you look back at my first point I mentioned things: coffee, books, clothing. While it’s easy for some to give thanks for things, it may be easier for others to give thanks for experiences instead. Positive experiences that made you happy are great ways to channel that feeling of gratitude, and while they can sometimes cost money (like a visit to a museum), they can also be totally free (like taking a walk on a nice day).

4) Write it down. As in physically buy a cute journal, a pen in a color that makes you happy, stickers to decorate the pages with, etc. Or better yet, use what you have and start today. Either way, the act of writing things down and seeing them adds another layer of intention as you’re spending more time with these positive feelings, possibly even reading over them once you’re done. If you’re more into technology than I am then even writing it down in your phone is good as well. And if you don’t like writing things down that’s okay too. I encourage you to try it eventually, but if you’re just starting off and it feels weird then focus on just practicing gratitude in your head (or out loud) for now.

While I had set out to tell you about my own experience with practicing gratitude, I felt that sharing what worked for me would be more beneficial. However, if you’re interested in this topic and want me to give you explicit examples of what I say when I practice gratitude or why I started doing in, then let me know in the comments below and I’d be happy to share. I’d love to know what your thoughts are on this topic and whether you employ a certain method to motivate you in this practice.