Description
5 Days to Gratefulness, Thankfulness, And Appreciation pt3
Welcome to Day 3 of the gratefulness challenge. I hope you found it helpful to do some gratitude journaling yesterday. I'd like to spend these 5 days looking further into how being more grateful can help us in so many different ways, and of course the wonderful effects this positive attitude has on the people we come into contact with every day.
I understand the difficult year we've had, and I've found myself dealing with the feeling of sadness, and I simply need to take action. So to help myself and hopefully others too, I want to look at how we can focus on subjects like; thankfulness, joy and gratitude to recalibrate our lives, and live again with joy in our lives.
Yesterday we talked about journaling, and how this helps us to put into practice what we are learning. Today we're going to be looking at the benefits and power of saying, "thank you" and how this can totally change the way we experience life.
It is two simple words that change everything. Anytime you receive anything good, no matter how small, make a concerted effort to say, "Thank you," to someone.
That's it. A phrase we take for granted. A sentence usually reserved for when someone holds the door for us. A phrase we say far too little.
We tend to think about gratitude only when we receive big blessings, but if we really want to cultivate gratefulness in our lives, can you imagine how it would change your life if you constantly said, "Thank you," to people?
If you took every opportunity to thank people? You could;
● Thanked a coworker for a prompt reply to an email.
● Said a heartfelt, "Thank you," when your boss let you go home 30 minutes early.
● Thanked your spouse for cooking a delicious dinner.
● Gave your kids a big hug and thanked them for cleaning up their toys.
● Were full of gratefulness when a family member called to visit us.
Being thankful for others profoundly changes the way we go through life. When you're constantly thankful for others, it fills your heart with joy and helps you live in a constant state of gratitude. In even the most challenging situations, you can almost always find something to be grateful for. Once you've identified something good, be thankful for it. Give thanks that it's making you a better, stronger, more compassionate, more thoughtful, more resilient person. Be grateful that it's stretching you to be your best possible self.
Being grateful doesn't necessarily make a bad situation good, it helps you come through the situation a stronger person than ever before. Gratefulness ensures that your best self always emerges from every situation.
Today, make every effort to say, "Thank you," to others. Match the practice of noticing with the practice of gratefulness to others. Try to notice at least TEN things you can thank someone for. They don't have to be big things. Give thanks for even the smallest ways a person helps you or brings joy into your life.
You'll discover that the practice of gratitude completely changes your relationships with people. They'll be much more receptive to you, much more open, much more willing to share their lives with you. And you'll simply be grateful that you did. Gratitude is an incredibly powerful practice. The practice is so powerful that it can change your relationships forever.
Tomorrow we're going to be talking about the powerful practice of gratitude affirmations.
Until then, please journal your experience with constantly saying, "Thank you." Was it difficult at all? How did people respond? Were there any unexpected responses? Write these in your journal to be reviewed again and again!
Roy Clayton
PS If you'd like a free digital copy of my "Happiness Journal" that I've created to help us, as we go through this subject, you can get it from here.