This Thursday is the annual Thanksgiving Day holiday in the USA when the country takes the time to celebrate the blessings of the year. It’s a reminder to us all whether we reside in the USA or not of the importance to be appreciative and grateful for all that we have and experience in life.

It’s easy for us to take life for granted in today’s fast paced modern world when we get busy and juggle lots of things. 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.

All too easily we can engage in the pointless task of comparing our life to others. This is never a very smart move as we might compare our weaknesses to someone else’s strengths. Furthermore, when we start something new, we can compare our possible struggle with someone who has more experience, is established and appears to have it easy.

We can get up in the morning and not fully appreciate the gift of a new day. We may not value the fact we have a roof over our head and at a flick of switch electricity appears to illuminate our home. We can turn a tap and 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 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 we appreciate all that we have. This includes the special people in our life and the opportunities available to us. We feel blessed for the natural gifts and talents that have been bestowed upon us. This has a positive effect on our mood, energy and happiness levels. As a result we tend to attract new opportunities and possibilities.

Research suggests that being grateful has positive health and well-being benefits. It can also increase happiness levels.

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 practicing 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 I strongly advocate that you adopt is to establish a gratitude journal.

Each day take a few moments to note down 3 things from the day that you are grateful for. I established this as a habit a few years ago and it has a really positive effect on your mood and feelings. Even on challenging days you can always find 3 things to be grateful for.

When we’re more deliberate about practicing gratitude we become better equipped to deal with challenges and hassles that inevitably we all face from time to time.

Some people have found it helpful to maintain a gratitude jar. This allows them to acknowledge positive events when they happen. They make a note of such events on post it notes/pieces of paper which they put in a jar.

They note things like acts of kindness they’ve received, positive feedback, and receipt of income, gifts, unexpected windfalls and great customer service. Some people make a 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, they take out the notes and read them all. This is an excellent way to acknowledge and appreciate all the things that they’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.

During the coming 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 weeks if you wish to.

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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