This month more than any other, I find myself reflecting over the past decade by looking at ways that practicing gratitude has served me well. To me, gratitude is an action, and I have tried to apply it daily. I’m not perfect at doing so but I do it 5 to 7 days a week.
For me, when I practice gratitude, it is nearly impossible to get upset or stressed out. This leads to the ability to make more productive decisions!
Gratitude is about the application of it in your life which will lead to successful outcomes.
If you apply and practice gratitude in a few simple areas of daily life, it will give you a different perspective, a “new set of glasses” per se, that allows you to be more upbeat, kind, and genuine to everyone you encounter each day. After all, more success is achieved when we genuinely and actively seek to help others succeed.
Here are three basic areas in which you can practice gratitude daily:
- Be kind to your health/body:
This is basic stuff, but very important. Try to eat foods that will nourish your body instead of attacking it. Try to get enough sleep, and slow down if life is getting too hectic. Taking good care of your body gives you all the energy you need to deal with the demands of the day. A healthy body equals a healthy mind, and a healthy mind produces results.
- Seek out the positive in ANY situation:
It’s easy to practice gratitude when things are going well. But, how about when disappointment or unexpected occurrences strike? When this happens, because it will, ask yourself:
“What can I learn from this experience?”, and “Can I apply the knowledge that I have now after going through this to help anyone else?”
After reflecting, take action! If you’ve learned something from a negative experience, and can help someone else with the knowledge learned from that experience, then it automatically turns the “negative” into a “positive”. It’s a win, win!
- Be kind and respectful to everyone:
This can be tough. You aren’t ever going to “like” everyone. You may actually strongly dislike someone. You can still practice kindness by trying to put yourself in the other’s person’s shoes. This brings tolerance which then allows you to be sincerely kind through respecting the other person’s position. This kind of attitude breeds mutual respect which will help form a productive and working relationship geared towards success no matter if you “like” them or not!
True gratitude is much more than a state of being. It is a way of living. And, it is a seed for future prosperity.