Gratitude – Love it or Hate it?

We all know that gratitude is something that we should be practicing, but so many of us aren’t entirely sure how to do it, and those of us that do often give up as it becomes a chore or life gets in the way.

So why bother?

There’s actually alot of fascinating research into the science behind gratitude and the massive improvements that it seems to be able to make to literally every area of your life. The website www.happierhuman.com has a host of science facts if you want to get more. Just take a look at this chart below courtesy of Happier Human.

Have you got 5 minutes

One of the things that fascinated me when I read through the findings is that it literally only takes 5 minutes a day to make a difference! That’s crazy, everyone can find 5 minutes. I don’t care how busy you are, how big your family commitments are, every single one of us must be able to find 5 minutes a day.

Now interestingly if you’re one of those people who is scratching their head trying to work out how on earth you’re going to find 5 minutes in between cooking, taking the kids to school, work, throwing down your lunch and blah blah blah… you already have times where you can be grateful.

Simply put, you don’t necessarily have to have a full on gratitude journal that you religiously write in every day. But you could for instance, think about what you’re grateful for when you brush your teeth twice a day, or how about when you’re in the shower and shampooing your hair? Hell even if you decided to think about something you’re grateful for whenever you go to the toilet would work!

Try it you might like it

The idea is that you just give it a go, if the daily journaling for 5 minutes becomes a chore, stop and try something else. Either way, you’re getting into the habit of retraining your brain. Regardless of what life throws at you in the year, this re-wiring will make your life feel so much more special than it currently does.

Learning to love

The main thing to remember is no matter how you go about it, your gratitude practice shouldn’t become a chore. It should ideally become a regular part of your day like brushing your teeth. But of course this, much like yoga is called a practice for a reason. It’s going to take time, regularly showing up before it becomes a part of your life. Just don’t beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon. Simply acknowledge it and get back into some form of practice.

2018 and beyond

I hope this message strikes a chord and you begin to implement some form of gratitude practice into your life, be it, thankfulness when brushing your teeth or a daily photo you love on instagram or even the traditional gratitude journal each day. It truly is a remarkable way to rewire your brain and totally transform your life.

And finally, I would like to say I am grateful for you reading my words. Thank you!