The Gratitude Habit

Waking up surrounded by African wildlife is sure to make me grateful and keep me smiling
Waking up surrounded by African wildlife is something that always makes me grateful

 

I am not really one for resolutions at the start of the New Year.  Instead I tend to make changes throughout the year depending on my goals at the time.  However, one area I do want to focus on this year and moving forward is in creating a regular gratitude habit.

Our daily lives can get hectic.  Things don’t go as planned.  Life is littered with hurdles for us to overcome.

This can lead to us focusing on:

–          what’s missing or what needs improving in our lives

–          the pursuit of more (while missing the beauty of less)

With this mind-set it’s easy to lose track of all that we have to be grateful for.

A gratitude habit can help fix that.

It helps us see and recognise the many things we have in our life to be truly grateful for.

 

Forming the Habit

 

We can create this habit through the use of a gratitude journal or through making some time each day to just pause for thought and think about several areas/people/events that we are grateful for.

There are no firm rules.  It could be something small or large.  You could just think of one thing each day or several.  It could be a person, a group of people or something else.  The important thing is we recognise the value and positive energy these things give us.  We make space to be thankful. 

Starting the day with a gratitude habit can put us in a decidedly positive mood to attack the day ahead.  Or perhaps you prefer to end your day with thinking about what you have to be grateful for.  There is no right and wrong.

 

So why not join me in making some time to ask:

 

What do I have to be grateful for today?