Gratitude Practice
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Gratitude & The Grounding Power of Thankfulness
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I first started recording daily Gratitude Lists when I was living in Astoria with three of my best friends. We shared a small, black notebook that we kept in the center of our living room coffee table. Every day we’d each write at least three things we were grateful for that day. Each other’s names came up often. So did coffee.
Gratitude is a practice, a mindset, and a technique for self-centering. It gives me perspective, encourages empathy and connection to others, and fosters positive thinking.
As someone who spirals into loops of negative thought patterns, compulsively examining the evil in humanity, frantically searching for the “why” in acts of atrocity, gratitude grounds me. Gratitude reminds me that I must concentrate on Earth’s gifts more than the evil humanity perpetrates. Negativity and cruelty is easy. Promoting goodness and gratitude requires more effort, intentionality and vulnerability.
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Cold Hard Truth: practicing gratitude is proven to make you happier.
Psychologists from the University of California and University of Miami conducted a study finding that participants who wrote about gratitude every day were more optimistic and felt better about their lives long-term.
Dr. Martin Seligman had his participants write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone in their life. These individuals immediately exhibited a huge increase in happiness scores. So did the receivers. And benefits lasted for a month.
Other studies have found that individuals who took time to express gratitude for their partner not only felt more positive toward the other person but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about the relationship.
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Thanking the car that forfeits their right of way, smiling at a stranger, and tipping your barista are all acts of gratitude. Why? Because gratitude acknowledges what we have instead of what we lack. By focusing on what we have, we create MORE. This is the difference between an abundance-mindset and scarcity-mindset.
So I have a challenge for you: for the next 21 days, drink your coffee with a notebook and a pen in hand and write down at least THREE things you’re grateful for that day. They can be little things, like the slippers you have on or big things, like your family and friends. If you have trouble thinking of something, try closing your eyes and breathing. Do you feel the breeze tickle the hairs on your arms? Does a funny memory pop into your head? Someone’s face? Write it down. You wouldn’t be here, in this exact moment, without that.
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It’s not always easy. Some days I feel like nothing I’m grateful for matters. Some days I wake up and my body feels like it was hit by a bus and my mind is swirling with memories that fog up my insides. It’s always on days where I want to give up on the practice that I need it the most.
Lately, those days have been more often than not. So I’m grateful. Grateful I can feel as fully as I do, grateful for others who care deeply and remind me I’m not alone, and grateful for support from the people I love.
Thank you for reading. I’m grateful for you, too.
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Written By:
Tess Forestieri