Practicing gratitude can be so difficult to master. It is very easy for the mind to get caught up in the storms of life. In fact, it seems that it is far easy to dwell on negativity instead of positivity.
In fact, humans are scientifically proven to gravitate towards negativity over positivity.
In neuroscience, this is called the negativity bias.
The problem with negativity is that it strongly correlates with a variety of mental health issues including anxiety, stress, and depression.
It can even wreak havoc on gut health.
Negativity can be a culprit in creating inflammation in the body, due to the stress that it creates.
Gratitude, on the other hand, holds a plethora of health benefits, and will lead to a greater quality of life, despite circumstances.
“The key to well-being isn’t the number in your bank account, but the ability to feel contentment wherever you are in life.”
Robert Puff
Benefits of Gratitude
- Influences overall psychological wellbeing, and reduce anxiety and depression
- Improves relationships and lead to richer friendships.
- Increases contentment in current situations and can reduce the need for material things.
- Reduces blood pressure
- Improves sleep
- Increases self-esteem, body image, and self-confidence
- Boosts resiliency to stress and life events
The Definition of Gratitude is…
“The state of being grateful: thankfulness”
Merriam Webster Dictionary
In essence, gratitude occurs when a person dwells on the good instead of the bad. Practicing gratitude occurs when an individual pushes away their negative thoughts and instead dwells in the beautiful components of life, no matter their surroundings.
This is an amazing tool that you can use in order to train your mindset in pursuit of a balanced, healthy life.
As you learn to practice this state of thankfulness, you may even find that your worldview begins to shift as you think of good, noble, and pure things instead of all that goes wrong.
This practice does not mean you live under a rock and deny all of the bad things that happen in life, but instead is a perspective shift towards how your mind handles those things.
Gratitude has the power to change the reality of the world that you see around you, and can empower you to take ownership of the things that you experience in life in order to make a difference.
It can allow for action to be taken in areas where negativity may freeze any movement.
Gratitude and contentment go hand in hand, making the current season that you are in life enough.
How to Train Your Brain to Practice Gratitude
If you want to stop thinking negatively, you must rewire your brain in order to think positively. This can be incredibly difficult to do, and may take some unlearning.
Do not despair though, because it is absolutely possible to do so. Taking baby steps can make a huge difference in how you perceive the world around you.
I think the best way to begin practicing a state of thankfulness and gratefulness is to begin writing in a gratitude journal.
Starting this journal can be simple, easy, and quick.
Keeping a gratitude journal does not have to take that much time out of your day. In fact, it only has to be 5 minutes. Heck, if that feels like too much, you can spend a minute each morning writing down one sentence about what you are most thankful for.
You can scribble this down on a scrap piece of paper, keep a word document, or purchase an actual gratitude journal.
This journal is laid out simply. All you have to do is write, or type out 3 things that you are grateful for each day.
This journal lasts for 365 days, an entire year! This means you will have the opportunity to record 1,095 things that you are most grateful for.
I say all of this to show that the exercise of writing down 1-3 things that you are grateful for each day can allow the mind to begin centering itself on what is good instead of what is bad.
Another good way to write out a gratitude journal involves writing 1-2 things down that you are grateful for when you wake up, and 1-2 things you are grateful for when you fall asleep.
Doing so can shift the mind’s perspective even more to dwell on the good things.
Keeping a daily gratitude journal can create a ripple effect in which the mind begins to look forward to thinking on the good each day as you record it.
After a month or so, this practice will become a habit, and the mind will start naturally focusing on what it is thankful for despite the circumstances.
Begin a Gratitude Challenge
Do you want to take this practice a step further, and train your thoughts to center even more on thankfulness? Try out a 30-day gratitude challenge that causes you to put gratitude into practice throughout the day, instead of just your morning or evening routine.
There are various gratitude challenges out there that you can easily find. I have created a FREE one that you can find right at this link or click on the image below.
Not only does it have a calendar view of what you will do each day to practice gratitude, but it also has a page for each day of the 30 day challenge so that you can fully dive into your gratefulness for life.
Every day you will be able to answer a gratitude-centered prompt, as well as list out 3 things you are thankful for. There is even a section to list out 3 things that make you smile each day.
Participating in a challenge like this is an amazing way to train the mind to centered on thankfulness and joy. They say it takes 20 days to form a habit. How about 30 days to let it really settle?!
If the free gratitude challenge does not resonate with you, there are plenty more to choose from! Just find what will work best for you to begin forming habits of gratefulness over negativity. Doing so has the power to transform your life.
Recap
Choosing to not allow the mind to dwell on negativity can be a lifelong learning process. The human mind is wired in such a way that is is easier to dwell on the negative, instead of the positive.
By practicing gratitude, this habit can be flipped on its head.
While it is not the only answer to a problem engrained in the mind, it can be a start, and a very =refreshing way to begin an end the day.
Thinking on what you are thankful for day and night can change the way that you see the world.
2 ways to start forming this habit are to:
- Start a gratitude journal that you begin and end your day with
- Do a gratitude challenge
I have these two free resources available, so do not forget to grab yours, and do not forget to share this post with a friend that you want to do the 30 day challenge with.
Comment below and tell me what you are most grateful for today, and how thankfulness changes your day.
