Gratitude – a powerful feeling with benefits that Talu helps you integrate into your daily life with this article.
What are wonderful way to spread more awareness about the power of gratitude, during this month.
You may already have a hint why I mention it this month? That’s right, it’s almost Thanksgiving or in Germany the tradition is known as Erntedankfest.
The Americans called the “First Thanksgiving” to have been celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in October 1621. Many other countries also celebrate the event more or less around the same date. For many today, Thanksgiving is one of the only times that extended families are able to come together. This tradition has become incredibly important as it provides the opportunity for family members to spend a day engaging with one another in a very intentional way.
I came to learn more about this tradition whilst living in the US back in 2006 and was fortunate to be invited by our American neighbours and friends. We were honoured to join their families on their Thanksgiving day and experience the celebration and gathering. Since both my children are born in the US, we decided to continue this tradition after we left the US to gather with family or friends no matter where we live and keep this tradition going!
So apart from feeling quite full from a delicious meal & having fun playing a number of games, the most memorable aspect to this event that left a mark on us, importantly was to share what we are grateful for during that year. This got me thinking and researching the importance of being more grateful.
In fact research strongly suggests that gratitude is more and more fundamental to our happiness.
In study after study, researchers have found that if people actively try to become more grateful in their everyday lives, they’re likely to become happier – and healthier! So why aren’t we doing this more?
I guess you could say we have forgotten how to tap in to creating it into a healthy habit! We are out of practice…
It’s easy to mistake gratitude for an optional expression of politeness, yet it can sometimes be hard to utter a simple thank you.
What is gratitude?
noun: gratitude
– the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness
Therefore we could say gratitude is being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen in our lives and taking the time to express our appreciation and return kindness.
The power of gratitude works in two ways, one it strengthens our social connection through giving and increases our own sense of personal worth. Whether we are giving gratitude or receiving the thanks, we understand that another person wishes us well and in turn, we feel loved and cared for.
That sounds like a a good enough reason to do this daily right?
Here are some ideas on how you can incorporate more gratitude in your daily life:
Start every day with gratitude
Every morning simply start with 3 things you are grateful for during that given moment.
As with most families the evening meals are a time to share what has happened during that day and generally have an exchange. In our home we all look forward to having this time together, we aim to encourage each other to seeing what we can be grateful for that day. It helps us to stay grounded and not only to complain about what isn’t going so well.
We decided to give it a try also first thing in the mornings, whilst having breakfast where we have a few minutes to talk about the day. We share 3 things that we are grateful for. I found my children started off their day in a happier frame of mind and feeling appreciative. For me it helped to be more in the present moment and focus on what I have.
You can extend this into a gratitude journal and write them down daily. The goal of the exercise is to remember a good event, experience, person, or thing in your life—then enjoy the good emotions that come with it.
Gratitude Letter
This practice is a wonderful way to express your thanks and makes a great gift idea 🙂
- Think about a time that someone did something for you, for which you are extremely grateful and didn’t have the chance to fully express your gratitude
- Now, write a letter addressing them
- Describe exactly why you are grateful
- How this behaviour impacted your well being
- You may want to mention how often you have thought about their efforts
Writing this letter affirms positive things in our lives and reminds us how others care for us.
You can also give this a try with your children, I practice this my self and encourage my children to communicate their gratitude in many ways. Making them more mindful of their communication with others.
Gratitude Tree (An activity to do with children)
It’s an idea for your home something visual and acts as a daily reminder.
- Take a few branches and place them in a vase
- Cut out card paper into leaf shapes and punch a hole through
- Each member gets to write on the card what they are grateful for (the more the merrier)
- Tie a ribbon through the hole and place on the branch
This is a lovely addition to the holiday season and helps us stay mindful of being appreciative.
Not only can gratitude improve our health and happiness, it strengthens our relationships.
“It is gratitude that enables us to receive and it is gratitude that motivates us to return the goodness that we have been given. In short, it is gratitude that enables us to be fully human.”
– Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., is the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude. He is a professor of psychology at the University of California
That description sums it all up – the power of gratitude.
I hope this blog has given you some new awareness on how to boost your happiness through gratitude.
Wishing you all a happy, fun & grateful Thanksgiving.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this post and if you have any comments please feel free to share or connect on other media links below.
Let us all show more gratitude and spread more happiness.
My happiest regards,
Talu
Get connected with Talu, Global Happiness Coach, True Awareness Coaching
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