What are you grateful for today?
When we’re young we often get told ‘be grateful for what you have!’ – yet we don’t fully understand what’s being said..and as we get older, we may understand gratitude better but it’s easy for it to get lost in our daily lives. We get busy in our everyday activities, work, family, hobbies, often wanting more or something different from what we already have. And then life throws challenges at us, events that test us, and it’s easy once again to forget about the good in our lives.
So as we get older, gratitude has to become intentional, we have to work at it.
I have heard a lot over the last couple of years about why daily gratitude is important but it’s not really registered with me. Until now. Until we have hit another challenge as a family. As I know others are having to deal with so much more, I started to think about the positives in our lives, rather than the negatives. And it helped.
I am normal – I shout at my kids and I snap at my husband, I experience overwhelm and focus on silly little things instead of the big important ones. (That is normal, right?!).
But in the grand scheme of things, compared to many people, we are so so fortunate.
Daily gratitude not only helps us to keep things in perspective on a day to day basis, but it helps us stay strong when we have to be strong for others.
What can you do to make gratitude a part of your life?
- Keep a gratitude journal – write down three different things every day to be grateful for (and it doesn’t have to be life’s big things)
- Make gratitude part of your everyday routine – maybe speak it out loud when having a shower, or make it a family topic at each evening meal, where everyone talks about what they are grateful for that day
- Volunteer at a charitable organisation – helping others can help you appreciate what you have
