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

Modern life is so busy, that’s it’s very easy to take it for granted and not be grateful for all that we have and is available to us. For instance, we can get up in the morning and not fully appreciate the gift of a new day.

We can easily fall into the trap of focusing on what we lack and dwell on our weaknesses, mistakes and setbacks. This negative spiral can have a detrimental effect on our energy and motivation levels.

There is a great film called “A street cat named Bob” which is 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.

When I saw the film it got me thinking about how sad it is that some people have to face such adversity in their life. It must be awful to live and sleep outside in all-weather with limited food and little or no money. It served as a great reminder to me to be grateful for all that I have in life.

We may not always value that we have a roof over our head and at a flick of a switch electricity illuminates our home. Furthermore, that at the turn of a tap we instantly have running water to fill a kettle and make ourselves a hot drink before we enjoy a lovely hot shower! I could go on, but the point is we get so used to our daily routine and all that is available to us that we can very easily take it all for granted.

When we take the time to be more consciously grateful, life takes on a new perspective. We look at things more positively and appreciate all that we have. This includes the special people in our life and the opportunities available to us. We feel blessed for our natural gifts and talents. This has a positive effect on our mood, energy and happiness levels. As a result, we tend to attract new opportunities and possibilities.

When we’re more deliberate about practising gratitude and acknowledging all that there is to be grateful for in life, it equips us to deal with the challenges and hassles that we inevitably face sometimes.

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 group felt fully 25% happier. They were more optimistic about the future and they felt better about their lives. They even did almost 1.5 hours more exercise a week than those in the ‘hassles’ or ‘events’ condition groups.

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 we are grateful for has the ability to shape our mood positively in lasting ways.

A practice that I have found helpful is to take the time daily to write down in a notebook at least 3 things from the day that I can be grateful for.

Alternatively, you might like to establish a gratitude jar that you can maintain daily over the coming year. This allows you to acknowledge positive events and experiences when they happen. The way to do this is to make a note of such events on pieces of paper which you place in the jar. At the end of the year, you take all of these out of the jar and remind yourself of all the things to be grateful for from the past twelve months.

This week, why not take some time out to reflect and think about what you are grateful for in your life.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk