Practising gratitude is well known for developing a positive mindset. Our positive reflections force us to notice things that may otherwise go unnoticed. We become more appreciative of those little things that make up our day.
This brings more happiness to our everyday lives as we do not focus on one bad thing that may be ruminating in our minds.
And what does everyone on this planet want? Happiness, of course!
Negative people attract negative people and negative interactions whereas positivity attracts positive relationships. Relationships are often a source of frustration so gratitude journaling can help you attract more positivity into your relationships.
It helps us enjoy our lives as we see a balance in our lives, rather than overwhelming gloom and doom. We become more appreciative.
Gratitude is easy to do - just requires us to reflect on our day. But it is a powerful tool for changing our mindset.
Why I chose to practise gratitude
After some very sad occurrences in my life, I sank into a deep depression. This was very unlike me and it was scary.
I refused medication but had to find my own way out of depression. So I came upon the habit of gratitude while blogging online.
It was a turning point for me in relationships and work. I was working on a casual basis at schools, at this time but I could choose to work every day with multiple offers. Other staff remarked that I always seemed happy and had a smile for them. I enjoyed my time in classes with children and gratefully helped out when I could.
Each day, I reflected on my day and it made me happy as I reflected on my accomplishments that day.
I became happier when I focused on each day's positives and started reaping the rewards in my new work situation. I became in high demand in my profession and had many offers of work and was given an ongoing position at age 67(which was unheard of).
To this day, I am grateful and still reaping more benefits borne of practising gratitude.
Gratitude Journaling
A gratitude journal helps you keep track of the positives that happened throughout your day and the most effective way is to journal daily.
They say it takes a month to develop a new habit so you can challenge yourself to a 30-day gratitude challenge here.
Gratitude journaling becomes a beautiful keepsake for you and the coming generations as you can reread your experiences and thoughts throughout the year.
Your children and grandchildren can read and find out what sort of person you were through your journaling.
I am a teacher and I did the Gratitude Jar with one particular student and we reread it to see what had happened in the past days. You will be surprised at how many little things you forget and it really does become a nice memory.
The Gratitude Jar is a nice idea to use with children who write the day's reflection on a strip of paper, fold it and put it in the jar. They can pull out strips when they want to read their reflections.
Children do get excited about this activity and love rereading their past refelctions.
For this reason, I prefer journals to apps as who knows what will happen in the future with apps?
Gratitude Journals you may like
You can use a gratitude journal daily guide to cultivating a life of gratitude and abundance.
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This beautiful big book (8.5 x 11) contains all the important elements for your reflections of the day, helping with your mindset and road to happiness. It also has colourful, supporting gratitude quotes. Read morehere.
A couple of examples of inner pages in this gratitude journal:
Start With Gratitude: Daily Gratitude Journal
I hope you have enjoyed this post. If you are interested in further reading, I have a post on Self-Care you might enjoy. You can read it here
This book leads you to the all-encompassing benefits of gratitude and strategies to make your life and relationships happier. It comes as a book and a journal.
Can I afford to pamper myself with self-care products?
Sometimes we put ourselves last as we may think it is selfish to prioritize ourselves on a regular basis.
However, there are many different forms of self-care and it can be just as effective to buy or do something that is inexpensive.
I used to worry about my finances, after a divorce late in life, and just work, work, work. It's like a treadmill that goes forever.
One day, I read an article that focused on rewarding yourself each week in some way-and it need not be expensive. So each week, I take myself out of my routine (into a new one) and do something that is different and that I enjoy.
I buy something that appeals to me from Amazon, or paint and draw, or go for a coffee at a cafe! I have bought some of the products listed below and I was so happy when I opened the boxes and saw the great products I had purchased.
So pamper yourself, relieve some stress, and put a smile on your face. You deserve it.
What self-care products would relax you and bring some happiness to you?
If you're wanting to practise of bit of self-care, and pamper yourself with a lovely treat that puts a smile on your face, I've made a list of lovely products for you. I had fun going through products on Amazon that I thought would relax you, in different ways. I hope you enjoy this post.
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These product page has moved to a new home. Please visit them here.
I decided to practice gratitude after reading the benefits of practising it and making it a part of your everyday life.
I had just been recovering from a serious bout of depression, that took me to very low levels of thinking. I had not suffered depression before and people had usually commented on how I smiled a lot.
But things changed drastically for me and I did not realise I was going into a downward spin until it was too late.
I also had a big void in my life and life does not like a vacuum! It seeks to fill it and not always with great things.
I did not take control and things just got worse and worse. I felt alone, with no one to turn to. I also did not like to let others into my very private thoughts, so others misread me and judged what they saw on the surface.
They were seeing the symptoms, and not the terrible feeling of desperation and not having anywhere to turn to when I needed help.
There was always judgment and that's not helpful when you're on a downhill slide.
Resilience and Gratitude
As I was growing up, I had developed resilience and I reminded myself that I had to believe there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I kept saying that but I really did not believe it.
Although I am not saying that you should not take medication for depression, it was not for me.
I met someone who helped me enormously by supporting me in a very troubled time. He saw things that others did not see so it was easier for him not to judge me.
He knew I was making bad decisions but he also saw through lies leveled at me and my complete burnout. I had no mental strength left.
I could not say 'no' and life was very demanding for me, as well working a very demanding job entailing 3 hours travel a day.
He saw why I was struggling and the candle was burning at both ends, and ready to snuff out!
My Plan to Improve my Mental Wellness with Gratitude
I had learnt with my last job that you need to fill the vacuum in your life.
I started a new job and found that I liked what I was doing. After the demands of the last job, it was a very pleasant change.
So keeping busy with a job I liked was my first step towards better health.
As it was a casual job with an agency, I still had panic attacks on my days off but I then thrust myself into learning to blog, on my days off.
So keeping busy helped me as I did not have time for negative thoughts.
My introduction to gratitude.
While blogging, I came across articles on Gratitude. They really resonated with me!
After a late divorce, and my totally giving up on ever making up the money and house I lost after 28 years of marriage, I knew I had to work hard and gain a reputable name with the agency and schools so I could get a fair amount of work throughout the year.
I started to actively practice gratitude until it became a habit. I read articles and sat down at the end of each workday and thought about what were the positive experiences I had that day.
I wrote them down so they became more concrete.
When working with a troubled student, we made a Gratitude Jar so that we could pull a gratitude strip out, at random, and reflect on what had happened on any particular day.
It's so easy to focus on the one bad thing that may have happened and let it sum up your whole day.
I was happy and smiling again. I became an Ambassador for my agency and was being requested by schools to be their first call when teachers were absent.
I loved working with the kids and did not get involved in work politics. I treated my support workers well and knew how to handle difficult children, with my background in special ed. and autism.
I did things cheerfully!
Yes, finding the little things to be grateful for each day instead of focusing on the negative had a positive effect on my life.
I have been the only casual teacher employed throughout the pandemic on an ongoing basis, and the school has employed me in another capacity when I finished the first placement.
How practising gratitude can help you?
Speaking in general terms, practicing gratitude will:
make you a happier person
have a more positive outlook
improve your relationships
attract success and abundance with the Law of Attraction
It takes 30 days of practice to change the habits of mind.
How Gratitude underlies the Law of Attraction:
When you send out good positive vibes, you attract others effortlessly.
Your thoughts determine your experiences so positive thoughts will attract positive experiences in a person's life and vice versa.
Another fundamental belief in the Law of Attraction:
What you give out, you receive.
I started to sponsor individuals and families in third-world countries. I cannot even measure the happiness that my friends from African countries have given me.
I have a new family and circle of friends that love me very much.
I have sponsored starving widows and their children through the local church during the pandemic. There is a lot of poverty and I'm humbled by their gratitude.
Unfortunately, many African leaders do not pass all the community aid to their communities so I have been able to establish trusting relationships to help them.
A small amount of money goes a long way in third-world countries.
My African friends always show gratitude and humility while living a simple life.
My greatest desire is to meet them and also to seek further ways of helping them.
It is now my primary concern, overriding my work goals.
So, following the Law of Attraction, the mind can translate our thoughts and materialize them into our reality.
So the Law of Attraction does give you the freedom to change and free yourself from self-doubt and worry.
I'm fighting the demons that I picked up after going broke after my divorce and become more proactive and positive in my life's decisions and who I want in my life.
I've learnt that doing the same thing over and over again, will only get the same results-so make sure you're making choices that get you to your vision of where you want to be.
Our choices and actions will create our intended life, in line with our vision of where we want to be.
It's important to visualise what you want and then make the needed effort to get it.
The Law of Attraction can further help you as it can:
improve your money situation
increase your self-confidence
combat anxiety
get fit, lose weight
So you have nothing to lose but everything to gain by practising gratitude and understanding the Law of Attraction.
Gratitude Journal- you can see these two example pages of quotes and journal page. Full details of this comprehensive journal can be seen here. Start your gratitude habit now and become a happier person.
Please feel free to share your journey below too!
Life is not smooth sailing and sometimes it's community that gets us through- our tribe.
Today, I would like to practice gratitude towards people who have, in some way or other, left a favorable impression on me and remember them with fondness.
Those who may have shown kindness, integrity, or gone the extra mile for me.
Gratitude for my dad
My dad-the hardest thing is to limit dad to a few short paragraphs! An incredible man who loved his family and community.
After his death, all the Hungarian clubs in Victoria that mushroomed from the first club he started, stood for 5 minutes silence in his honour, even though he had been off the scene for more than 30 years when he died at 86.
He left Europe to give us a better life and built a tiny bungalow for us to live in while he built our first brick home.
He was responsible for bringing out all our family, giving them free board and food until they could be independent.
The words 'nuclear family' meant nothing to us as we were always surrounded by a huge family, as well as community.
Dad also helped other young men and couples who migrated to Australia. They were always included in family outings and our combi van was always full of people and food.
He built up small businesses as a greengrocer and had a thriving fish and chips business. His days started mostly at 3.30 am to go to the market and home at 6pm.
He was a homing pigeon and always happy to be home, but sometimes did visit his brothers' families who lived in the same street or area, most of the time.
He never charged the family for food they took from our shops.
As the family did not have cars in the early days, he would do the rounds and pick up all my cousins and drive us to school.
He never complained about being tired, and when we were old enough to go out to functions, he would eat, have a shower and get ready to take us out and wait around somewhere until it was time to pick us up after parties, etc.
He always knew how to cut costs but give people a great feed. In his fish and chips business, he made his own fish cakes and they were so popular.
On Fridays, I had to help as the shop was bulging at the seams with people and the cue went outside the door and down the side street alongside our side fence.
We had two fish and chips shops on either side of us, just a short distance away- empty, of course!
Later in life, he became a real estate agent. I remember a time when the interest rates were very high in the 1970/80's and it was common for young couples to get second mortgages on top of a first mortgage.
A young couple wanted to buy a house from dad but he refused to sell it to them as he looked over their finances, and said that a second mortgage would ultimately lead them to lose their house and put pressure on their marriage.
The bank had okayed them for the two loans, as they did in those days!
There is so much more to dad, but the loveliest memory was when he would take mum to the station to go to work in the early morning.
I would hear a clatter in the kitchen and he would bring me breakfast in bed, with a cup of coffee and a rose in a small vase. He always said 'a rose for a rose.'
Gratitude for my teachers
Mostly, and unfortunately, the majority of my teachers were stressed, mean, or just interested in getting information across.
The teachers that I have fond memories of were those who were able to get off their pulpits and show kindness and have a little 1:1 moment while teaching.
Just reading what I have written, I wonder why I actually liked school!
My Grade 6 teacher
She was a nun and the kindest one in my four years at catholic school. Nuns could be tough ladies!
I don't remember her hitting us, as part of normal practise at the time, when they were annoyed at someone's antics.
Often, the whole class copped it so we would get angry at the culprit and put peer pressure on him( yes, it was always a 'him').
My family went overseas for three months so she would sit with me every day, before we went, and taught me what I needed to learn.
Looking back, I would have done well with homeschooling as I was a quick learner and enjoyed the 1:1 sessions.
Mr. Pavlov
Mr. Pavlov was a Russian teacher who was a mixture of strictness but funny! He could get angry but no one was really scared of him.
If the boys got on his nerves, he called them 'potatoes' and they knew they were out of line.
I remember his kindness- when he roved the classroom, he always spoke kindly to me and asked me how I was going.
I was not backward in maths but I certainly was not super confident.
If he thought I wasn't sure of something, he explained the concept quietly at my desk and he always got his message through easily.
Mr. Kuhne
Another maths. teacher who struck terror in us all!
Everything was black and white and there were no excuses.
He told us the rules on the first day and stuck to them.
He took a lineup area and everyone rushed to be on time as even talking to a Principal etc was no excuse- you just had to be lined up on time.
What a nice surprise to find how patient he was on a 1:1 basis, and he made maths so easy to understand that I actually enjoyed it.
He was kind on a 1:1 basis and was patient with students who needed some support.
He just did not tolerate rudeness and those who wasted time in class.
Mr. Jones
My art teacher who was just a nice guy. You did not have to be good at art, just enjoy it. He was one of the only teachers, in that era, who allowed us to stay inside at lunchtime.
Miss Simpson
My English teacher for both English and English Literature. When I was a teenager, a lot of learning was 'chalk and talk', with copying from the board or answering questions on paper.
I remember being very upset as Miss Simpson would come in, sit on top of a desk, and just talk or fire questions at us. I was so concerned that my exercise books were empty!
She was encouraging us to think and talk, express our views. Our results were phenomenal- with the majority of our class receiving A's in our final year. This enabled me to get into the college of my choice.
Miss Helen Welsh
Vice-principal at one of the schools where I do a substantial amount of casual teaching.
Helen has been so kind and this has enabled me to have lots of work, especially working in the grade 1/2/3 area.
She has respect for my experience and, as she asks for me by name when she rings the agency, she has given me a high profile as the agency has said that I am the only teacher that is requested by name!
I am now an ambassador for the agency.
Rahul and Sheetal
The parents of two young students who I tutor, they are doctors and lead a very busy life as they are on call.
They tell me how they appreciate how I teach their children and asked, this past Christmas, if I would mind if they gave me a raise in pay!
The resident doctor who saved my life.
I was five months pregnant and was taken to hospital with appendicitis.
I had a high pain threshold but I remember the incredible pain. I was taken in about 9 pm and they were waiting for a doctor to arrive- a Mr., not just a DR.!
Well, he just didn't arrive and they had to keep changing the time of my operation.
Finally, he arrived and it was about 2.30 pm next day that I was taken into theatre. By that time, my appendix had burst and the pain was escalating and I just wanted to escape the incredible pain.
The nurses said, with glints in their eyes, how lucky I was to have this doctor operating on me.
Well- Mr. arrived! He walked into the theatre (I was still conscious) and walked over to the nurses where there was a bit of giggling going on. Not even a look at me.
The last thing I remember was the resident doctor being very angry and shouting to others to get me ready for the operation as I was in a bad way.
Well, that week I had round-the-clock checks every 10 minutes. I remember not being able to open my eyes at one point but hearing what was going on around me.
I remember a very high level of pain. I just wanted the pain to end.
I remember feeling that I could just slip away and then, feeling so scared that I could die, I talked myself into positive thinking mode- you will survive, the team in hospital will look after you etc.
When I left the hospital, the matron and the doctor talked to me separately and said that I had been so ill that it was a miracle that I was still alive.
They actually used the word 'miracle'. So the feeling I had that I could pass on was real!
They also said that there was no word to describe my baby surviving the operation and my subsequent level of illness. They had expected both of us to die. Yes, they actually said 'die'.
My friend, Rob!
My friend who has stuck by me when I went through a bad depression and was close to a breakdown after my dad died and the family went to pieces.
He was there holding my hand when the doctor and nurse were trying to get my heartbeat back to normal, as they said I was having a heart attack, stress-induced.
He never judged me and understood what I was going through.
Who are you grateful for? Who are your 'standout' people that left their mark on you? I'd love you to share your memory with me.
Who are you most grateful for? Have you actively thought about it? You might surprise yourself with your reflections.
I decided to find out how gratitude contributes to wellness as there are many memes and printables focusing on gratitude.
Have we ever thought about gratitude and its importance to us as a society?
What is gratitude?
Gratitude is a social emotion and it connects us to our social world.
It is directed at someone who has helped us in some way and it can range from a simple act of someone offering their seat on public transport to lifelong gratitude for an act of kindness that may have had grand repercussions to someone, such as an act that may have saved someone's life.
The power of gratitude is its ability to build repricocity in others so if you practise gratitude towards others, they are more inclined to reciprocate gratitude themselves.
Gratitude becomes a circular event that connects us socially, with warm feelings towards other human beings.
Scientific research has shown that practising gratitude, with you being the giver or receiver, stimulates the frontal cortex of the brain and this sets a chain reaction that ultimately leads to a boost in our mental wellbeing.
Practising gratitude helps us become better human beings by being less selfish in our wants and perceived needs, and develops humility in ourselves.
Instead of focusing on perceived deficits, such as the lack of material wealth, we focus on our blessings by actively thinking about the 'positives' in our daily and long-term life.
It is so easy to focus, for example, on one bad thing that has happened and not let it go.
That one thing masks the many good things that have also happened and we need a jolt in our thinking to put things in perspective as focusing on negatives can impact your mental wellness.
What prompted me to start thinking about gratitude?
As I spend a lot of time on Pinterest, I saw an idea that I loved. It was the Gratitude Jar, wherein you write one thing you are grateful for each day and place this note in the jar.
At the end of the year, you should have 365 memories of things you were grateful for throughout the year.
I thought it was a great idea and what a lot of lovely memories you would be reliving, that you would ordinarily have forgotten.
It is a great way of training your mind to think of something that was positive and uplifting, and that you are grateful for.
Throughout my life, I have seen others who spend most of their time ruminating on all the negatives in their lives and focusing on bad memories.
They were emotionally draining, unhappy people.
Should you make an effort to practise the art of gratitude?
As mentioned earlier, practising gratitude has a beneficial effect on our brain and mental and physical wellness.
On social media, time and time again, I have often read that if we ever saw the effects negative thought had on us internally, we would never have a negative thought again. I was listening to an audiobook prior to sitting down to write this part, and it was discussing the effects that negative and positive thoughts have on us and it made an astounding statement. Along with the claims that are perhaps expected, it said that when we are in a negative zone e.g. we are scared of bees that may be in our line of sight, we emit our anxiety so powerfully that a bee can actually pick up our vibrations, interpret our anxiety and sting us. I have never been scared of bees so that may explain why I have not been stung, even though there were plenty of bees around as I grew up.
I have decided to add this in as an interesting fact, and you may or not believe it!
One article went into depth about how a negative thought triggers a set of physical reactions within our body and it was staggering to read how many reactions our bodies experience, without us being aware of the potentially harmful chemical surges within our body.
Having negative thoughts sets a train of events inside our bodies that we cannot fully perceive as it is invisible to us.
So it is valuable to train yourself to practise gratitude until it becomes a habit.
I have witnessed a total lack of gratitude in others who are unable to say 'thank you' for a present or unexpected handout, for time spent helping them or mentoring them in a new job and they are negative souls and you can never get their loyalty. Needless to say, they have fractured relationships in life and this turmoil cannot be good for their mental or physical wellness.
If you feel you have nothing to feel grateful for or think that you are a 'half-glass empty' person who dwells on the negative, remember that :
Today
someone took their last breath
someone received news that they had a life-threatening illness
someone was just retrenched
someone lost a baby
someone didn't have enough money when shopping and had to put groceries back
someone suffers from depression in silence
someone had news that their partner had just died
someone who needs to work has a sick child but manages their family
someone has a child with a diagnosis that means lifelong special care
someone is in an abusive relationship but it is better than living on the street or being stalked
someone whose marriage has deteriorated and finding it hard to keep up the pretence
someone is having a breakdown and being judged by family
What to be grateful for each day:
Do you appreciate
someone you don't know smiling at you unexpectedly?
offering you a seat?
making you a cup of tea or coffee?
cooking dinner?
taking you out for dinner?
helping you with a project?
staying after work to talk to you?
a child bringing you a flower? (I get this sometimes from school children)
letting you go first in the queue?
someone picking up something you dropped?
So many possibilities!
The Benefits of Gratitude
The benefits of gratitude are twofold: physical and mental wellness. Some people are better at it than others so, for some, it is a habit to be acquired by practising with deliberate intention.
Without gratitude, we lose the 'glue' that binds us, not only to those we know but to the rest of humanity. Those who helped Jewish people escape from the Nazis, by hiding them in their houses, did so at their own peril.
The gratitude felt by those who were saved was a lifelong feeling towards those strangers.
Gratitude develops trust towards the humanity of others.
If people are kind to strangers, we feel safer and more secure in our place in the world.
How to start developing the habit of gratitude.
It takes 30 days to develop a new habit and this habit is a worthwhile, important habit for your overall happiness.
This Gratitude journal has 3 vital components in it, to help you focus on developing your road to a happier life through the practice of gratitude. You can see it here.
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