Acknowledging, embracing, and expressing gratitude is an important practice to incorporate as part of your normal habits. Over the last couple of years, I've found it extremely helpful to keep a gratitude journal, in which I spent the last few moments of my day listing out all the things that happened that I was grateful for. It sounds small, but I can't even describe the amount of peace I gained every night knowing (in spite of the challenges faced that day) I was surrounded by so much beauty, grace, love, and support.
So if you're in the same boat and trying to maintain as much of your peace as you can, like me, here's a list of helpful tips to help you tap into the power of being grateful. You can use these ideas as you move forward in creating your own routine.
Take a Gratitude Walk Exercise
Going for a walk is a great way to relieve stress and gain perspective. Leave your regular environment, get out in the fresh air, and move away from distractions. It's a fabulous way to focus on gratitude. As you stroll, be sure to pay special attention to the things you encounter along the way. Chances are, you'll discover plenty to be thankful for during your walk.
Make a Beautiful Gratitude Collage
A fun way to acknowledge your gratefulness in a visual way is to create a gratitude collage. This process works in a similar way as a vision board. You can cut out pictures from a magazine or add personal photos. Your collage can simply be laid out on a poster board, or you can get more creative and decorative. You can even keep your board electronically on Pinterest or some other app. The point is to collect images that move you to consider your good fortune. It's a good idea to put your board in a place where you can see it or access it daily.
Look for Gratitude in Challenges
We all know how easy it is to focus on the bad stuff, and sometimes we get stuck in the negative and allow it to weigh us down. That's natural, but you can interrupt that cycle by consciously working to find gratitude in life's challenges. Look for the lessons or the silver linings. Be sure to write them down in your gratitude journal or make a note of them in some formalized way so that you can look back and remember the good that came from adversity.
Help Out Others
One of the most impactful ways to gain perspective and be grateful for what you have is to help others in need. This can be through a formal volunteer effort with a philanthropic organization, or it can simply be something like helping a neighbor you see who could use a hand with his lawn. No matter what the effort, you'll reap the rewards when you pitch in to give to others. Try to do something to help someone else at least once a week, and you're sure to experience a boost in gratitude. Give these ideas a try. Research or brainstorm some additional ones on your own. Just get started, so you can see just what a difference embracing a mindset of gratitude can have on your entire life.
