Do you practice gratitude in your everyday life? What are you grateful for today?
Gratitude has become my grounding exercise. When I start to feel anxious or disappointed or overwhelmed, I ask myself to name 3 things that I am grateful for today.
Being grateful, in my opinion, is feeling the appreciation of what you have. Taking time to really focus on what you have instead of don’t have.
It helps me take my mind off of the endless possibilities of the future (that probably won’t ever happen) and focus on the present moment. Other grounding techniques could be focusing on your breathing or naming things in the same room as you.
The Perks of Being Grateful
Gratitude was something I started focusing on to help redirect my anxiety. I heard that you can’t be anxious and grateful at the same time. So, I gave it a shot!
It worked…and it didn’t work at the same time.
It worked in the way that it took my focus off the unknown. Gratitude helps me reel in my mind and become conscious of what I am thinking. It also taught me that I can choose what thoughts I give energy to. Which is so powerful!
When you can start to be conscious and aware of what thoughts you are thinking you start to take back your power. Your power over your thoughts, emotions, actions, and results!
This was not an instantaneous, overnight transformation by any means though! It is a daily reminder, sometimes battle, to look at things as if they were rigged in your favor.
That’s how I think it didn’t work. It wasn’t instantaneous. It wasn’t a magic band-aid. I didn’t name three things I liked and the anxiety poofed away.
It may seem like common sense but I really was hoping it would work that way!
Truly feeling grateful is harder than I expected.
Want to know more about how gratitude can help you? Read Attitude Of Gratitude: How The Universal Law of Gratitude Can Help You
Feeling Gratitude
Feeling the emotion of gratitude is what gets you out of the funk of another emotion, say anxiety.
For me when I feel grateful for something, I feel the emotion in my chest. It feels like my chest is swelling. My heart feels like it is overflowing. I want to take a deep breath in and straighten my back a little. I feel a smile appear on my face.
What does gratitude feel like for you?
I used to think that counting my blessings, and being grateful were the same.
They are similar and the phrase counting your blessing sounds like such a positive phrase. But being grateful is an extra step.
Counting your blessings is saying “at least I have ___”. At least, that still has a lingering for wanting more.
Being grateful is actually feeling the appreciation for what you have. Enjoying what you have.
You can be grateful and still want more. But first, you have to come from abundance and believing that you already have enough.
Tips to really feel Gratitude
Here are three things that I try to do every day to focus on what I am thankful for having.
1. Journal.
Write down what you are thankful for every day. You can do this in the morning or at night before you go to bed. Or if you are an overachiever you can start and end your day with a little gratitude.
3. When you think of someone send them and quick text or voice message.
More often than not the other person is thinking about you at the same time. This is just a nice little way to spread some love as well. It’s always nice to get a “thinking of you text.”
3. Really feel the emotion of gratitude.
Don’t just say it like a checkbox, experience it. Relive the moment you are thinking about. Think about all the work you put into getting the thing you are appreciating.
Be grateful for your ability to work hard. Describe to yourself what it brings to your life. Allow yourself to shift and feel the gratitude wash over you. Describe to yourself what gratitude, the emotion, feels like.
Do you practice the art of gratitude? Read 5 Ways Gratitude Can Change Your Life
If you want to know more about experiencing gratitude, then check out this video below:
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