GRATITUDE AS A HABIT

We have endless opportunities to express gratitude every day. What makes it difficult for everyone is that negative thoughts in our minds can prevent us from being grateful. When we experience negative thoughts there is a tendency to focus attention on them and let negative emotions such as anger, fear, and anxiety take over our lives.

Of course, sometimes these emotions are helpful to us by protecting us from real danger but often they are irrational. The trick here is to not let them dominate or become the driving force in our lives and what we experience. We must break the negative patterns and introduce positive ones that will give us a new perspective on life. This will however take time and consistent effort. Expecting immediate results is like expecting to lose weight on day one of our new diets.

We are talking about long-term changes here. We have to commit to these changes in order to develop our attitude of gratitude. With regular practice, we can make the needed changes and they will then form a new habit that we will have on autopilot.

Always remember that no matter what is going on around us there is always something to be grateful for. Even when we are extremely frustrated and disappointed about a situation, we should strive to see a reason to be grateful. Once we accept this then we will really be on our way to an attitude of gratitude.

Developing the Gratitude Habit

When we decide to change any routine or behavior, we must accept that it is going to take time and persistence to develop it into a brand-new habit. Think back to when we first learned to drive a car. We had to focus on many different things to travel safely over a short distance. Now you can drive hundreds of miles without even thinking about it.

When enough time has passed the new behavior or routine becomes something that we do automatically. But before that, we will have to put in the effort and make some difficult transitions. Do not underestimate the effort and attention to detail that is needed to develop a gratitude habit. It is not easy but focusing on the many benefits will drive us forward.

Benefits of Developing a Gratitude Habit

There has been a great deal of research on the subject of gratitude and some of the most notable benefits are:

??????????????????You will be aware of the abundance that already exists in your life

??????????????????It will help you live an abundant life

??????????????????It will help you to minimize stress

??????????????????It will make you a lot more optimistic

??????????????????It will provide you with an increased sense of community

??????????????????It will improve your resilience

??????????????????It will increase your sense of emotional well being

??????????????????It will increase the amount of physical activity in your life

??????????????????It will help you to sleep better

??????????????????It will improve your physical health

??????????????????It will reduce feelings of depression

??????????????????It will reduce feelings of anxiety

??????????????????It will give your immune and cardiovascular systems a boost

What happens if we do not follow through on our gratitude habit changes on a particular day? We just need to pick up where we left off the next day and try to be as consistent as possible. After a while, our gratitude habit will become automatic.

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