I went to see the film “A street cat named Bob” recently.

It’s based on the international best selling book by the same name. It’s a true feel good story of how James Bowen, who was homeless, busking and a recovering drug addict, had his life transformed when he met a stray ginger cat.

The film was really good and a great reminder of the adversity that some people face in their life and have big challenges to overcome. It got me thinking about how awful it must be for people to have to live and sleep outside in all-weather with limited food and little or no money.

For those of us that aren’t living life on the streets, it’s still easy for us to fall into the trap of focusing our mind on what we lack, what’s not working and what’s wrong with life. Falling into this habit doesn’t help our energy levels, mood or help us to maintain a positive outlook. In today’s fast paced world with countless demands and distractions, we can all easily forget and take for granted things to be grateful for.

There’s much to be grateful for if we have a roof over our head, food in our cupboards and fridge and money going into our bank accounts. We can take for granted how fortunate we are when we’re able to get out of a nice comfortable warm bed, step onto a carpet and into a room warmed by central heating. We flick a switch and a light comes up, we turn a tap and get running water. Within minutes a kettle has boiled water so we can enjoy a nice cup of tea or coffee. Then we can step into a lovely hot shower and prepare for the day ahead. We can also forget to be grateful for the gift of life and good health.

When we’re more deliberate about practising gratitude and acknowledging all that there is to be grateful for in life it helps increase our energy levels, keeps us happy, positive and better equipped to deal with challenges and hassles that inevitably we all face from time to time.

When I first started to be more deliberately grateful a few years ago I wrote a list of 50 things to be grateful for which I added to over the course of a month. I still refer to this list from time to time when things don’t go as planned, if I am facing an obstacle or if my energy level drops. It always lifts my mood and spirits and puts things into balance and perspective.

Robert A. Emmons & Michael McCullough are two of the leading scholars on the topic of gratitude and they have researched and written about its power to boost happiness. In one of their studies, they carried out research with 3 experimental groups over a 10 week period. They found that the people who were in the gratitude condition felt fully 25% happier. They were more optimistic about the future, they felt better about their lives and they even did almost 1.5 hours more exercise a week than those in the hassles or events condition.

Martin Seligman is a leading expert on positive psychology and a very successful author. He has looked extensively at the effect and benefits of practising gratitude in his work. He has found that writing down what you are grateful for has the ability to shape your mood positively in lasting ways.

A practice that I have found helpful is to maintain a gratitude jar. This allows you to acknowledge positive events when they happen.

The way I do this is to make a note of such events on post it notes which I put in a jar. I note down acts of kindness, positive feedback, receipt of income, gifts, unexpected windfalls and great customer service. I also make note of nice experiences such as days out, time by the sea, fantastic meals, attending concerts and sporting events etc.

At the end of each year, I take out the notes and read them all. I’ve found this to be an excellent way to acknowledge and appreciate all the things that I’ve been fortunate to experience during the year. This creates a good feeling and is a great way to prepare and look forward to the New Year with positive expectation.

Also before I go to sleep each night, I take the time to mentally acknowledge at least 3 things from the day that I can be grateful for. As a variation of this you could establish a gratitude journal and take a few minutes each day to write down your 3 things.

This week why not take some time out to pause and reflect and consider what you can be grateful for. You may like to devise a list of 50 things for which you can be grateful. You can add to it over the coming month.

Also you might like to establish a gratitude jar or journal that you can maintain daily over the coming year.

This week’s quotation:

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” William Arthur Ward.

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