Gratitude has been on everyone’s lips for quite some time. Learning to be grateful is part of conscious living. There’s no right or wrong way to practice gratitude.
Gratitude is all about shifting your focus. Every tiny little adjustment that we can make in our thoughts from acceptance to appreciation (and away from resistance) can open our hearts to gratitude.
So, what’s the simplest way to practice gratitude? Start by using these two words: thank you!
During the first few years of my conscious living journey, I learned a lot about gratitude. At first, it seemed that when I focused on gratitude while I was sad or depressed, I was only pouring glitter over my negative emotions. Though I may have had the best intentions, I was just putting those “feel-good” thoughts over whatever was there.
Emotions are strong feelings deriving from one’s circumstances, moods, or relationships with others. If we want to adjust our emotions, we just have to look at them from a different perspective.
There are now many different studies on what gratitude can do. According to these studies, gratitude can:
Many life changes happen when you are grateful.
I also like to remind myself that sometimes, it feels like we must move mountains to restore our balance. It isn’t always instant.
The Golden Mean, or the perfect balance, is not a condition. The balance felt in your soul, is achieved when you look at life as a series of moments. In life’s energy, everything moves in waves. While there is no permanent state of equilibrium, we are always seeking the restoration of balance.
That’s where gratitude comes in. Whenever you are feeling less than good, stop and search within yourself to find a thought that feels better. When you tune into feeling good (or feeling a bit better), you attract more of what you want.
When you think about upliftment or abundance, you reinforce your positive emotions.
All wise spiritual masters remind us of this, each in slightly different words, but the content is always the same. If you are unhappy, you can do one of three things:
If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of these three options, and you must make the choice now.
Habituation and everyday life are the natural enemies of gratitude, as feelings of gratitude can be very fleeting. One moment it’s there and the next it’s simply gone and you are back to the hustle of your normal, everyday mode.
By practicing gratitude consciously, the spiritual dimension of life opens. The main cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it. Acknowledging the good you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.
If your goal is to be joyful, start by waking up in the morning, smiling, and saying thank you.
If you want to incorporate gratitude into your life, “thank you” should be your first words in the morning and your last thought before going to sleep.
Here’s one of the ways I practice gratitude in my life. When I wake up in the morning, I start my day by saying:
Dear God / Universe,
Thank you for my comfortable mattress, my ideally shaped pillow, my wonderful, warm down comforter.
~
Thank you for my perfect health and for allowing me to live pain-free. I am thankful to be breathing freely and deeply.
~
Thank you for all the love and abundance in my life.
✨ These are my first thoughts in the morning. Every morning.
Giving thanks for the things we take for granted is a powerful tool to invite more blessings into our lives.
The direction in your life is either lack or abundance. These two paths do not run side by side, but instead run exactly opposite to each other. Therefore, if you are on the course of lack, you must turn 180 degrees. When you head in the other direction, you will benefit from abundance and all that comes with it including enthusiasm, success, health, balance, happiness, serenity, contentment, joy, and peace. You may have to start with baby steps but keep moving in that direction!
What should you give thanks for? If you look around, I’m sure there are plenty of reasons to be thankful. Perhaps it’s the skills and special talents you possess, or the love that surrounds you. Gratitude costs nothing, yet practicing it brings you closer to a life filled with miracles.
We all know someone who’s often complaining or whining, even on a high level. (We all do that sometimes without realizing it!) We must shift our perspectives from anger at what is missing instead to appreciation for the abundance that is there for us. Gratitude, in a sense, triggers a positive spiral that makes you happier, healthier, and more balanced.
One of my favorite quotes about gratitude is:
The stone that fell into my life has a deep meaning. Where I cannot move it, I must bloom over it.
Sometimes, we have a tough time feeling grateful. In those moments, it’s usually very difficult for us to suddenly see what we take for granted with different eyes.
However, being grateful can be learned. The practice of gratitude for your soul is like the routine of going to the gym for your muscles. It must come from within, and we get better with discipline.
We take for granted most aspects of our daily life. Hold on to and recognize all the little and big miracles that are part of your life every day.
I like to write three things every day that will make me particularly happy. This morning, I picked my salon appointment, my walk in the foggy forest, and researching for this blog post. What are you most grateful for today?
Here’s a trick for my advanced gratitude heroes. If I do not like one thing from my day, I try to add it to my list of three things that will make me happy, and turn that negative thought into a positive one!
As of recently, I’m officially in my running era, taking advantage of all the wonderful running trails near me in the Alps! Running has unlocked a whole new passion for me, and I hope to inspire you to experience the same! Today I’m sharing what I love about running and the top 10 benefits of running for your body and mind.
Living a conscious life is more than just being awake. It’s about being acutely aware of the choices we make, the impact of our actions, the desires of our hearts, and the imprints we leave. It means living with intention and purpose, and making choices for ourselves, not based on what’s culturally popular.
Through this blog, I’ll help you understand the fundamentals of slow traveling with tips to incorporate into your next trip. It’s about time we shift our perspectives to travel intentionally and travel slowly.
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2 thoughts on “Practicing Gratitude: How to Shift Your Perspective”
Liebe Kathrin,
Dankbarkeit hat keinen Preis!
Es zu sein zaubert uns ein Lächeln und Freude ins Gesicht. Eine wunderbare Ausstrahlung.
Das wohlige Gefühl dabei macht uns glücklicher. Es sind kurze Momente.
Das ist die Motivation es in jedem Augenblick des Lebens zu integrieren.
Dann geschehen die kleinen und großen Wunder.
Wunder entstehen in der Wahrnehmung des Lebens jeden Tag.
Es bedarf nur der Aufmerksamkeit.
Ganz lieben Dank für deinen großartigen Beitrag.
Deine Mama
Ich freue mich von ganzem Herzen, dass Dir dieser Blog über das Üben von Dankbarkeit und wie wir unsere Perspektive ändern können ganz besonders gut gefällt!