An Attitude of Gratitude Gives Life a Whole New Meaning

Having gratitude is a sure-fire way to improve your everyday quality of life.

It’s no question that gratitude can make you happier and mentally healthier. When stress arises in our lives, it’s easy to lose track of all the good things we have and just worry about the problems at hand.

Adopting an attitude of gratitude year round can help alleviate the stress holidays have on us when they roll around.

While we all look forward to the holidays, sometimes we know we are also looking forward to a lot of stress. It can be hard to take a step back from the chaos of organizing holiday traditions and remember what the holidays are really about.

But holidays are supposed to be a time for giving thanks and appreciating the people in our lives. So how do you do that without losing your mind over all the small things that normally can stress you out and drive you crazy?

Adopting an attitude of gratitude year-round, and especially during the holidays can be as simple as practicing a few easy steps each day and turning what could be a house full of woes and worries into something that you can truly give thanks for.

Make these adjustments and practice them every day to help you adopt this attitude, not only through the holiday but also throughout your entire life.

1. Say, out loud, what you are grateful for and then write it down.

Start your morning by doing this. Being mindful, taking the time each day to actually count all of your blessings, no matter how small, will help you keep them in mind all day. Knowing what you are grateful for is a wonderful way to focus on being grateful. Don’t forget the small stuff either. It all counts.

Listing a thank you note you had received, or a chance to spend time with a neighbor you don’t see often is just as important to recognize as the big blessings, like your family or your health. Do this right when you wake up and take a few minutes to do this again before bed.

2. Show your gratitude.

Making plans to thank people and show them how grateful you are. Planning to show gratitude makes you more likely to do it, and it also helps with remembering what you are grateful for by thinking about it in depth.

Just a thank you or a call to see how someone is doing who’s helped you before can really remind you how much in your life you have to be grateful about.

3. Post pictures of what makes you grateful.

It’s easy to push the good things out and focus on the stress in your life when the good things are out of sight and out of mind.

Pictures of the people you appreciate and love, as well as the things that make you happy, can be a happy reminder throughout the day to be grateful and appreciate all the good in your life.

4. Make it a habit.

Going through the exercises of being grateful will make these practices a habit so that no matter if you’re having a good day, or a bad day that pushes your stress limits to the maximum, you will be able to practice gratitude and be happy through the challenges of life.

Adopting an attitude of gratitude is a great way to navigate some of the life’s more trying moments.

It can quickly put into perspective the problems you are facing and allow you to embrace them and work through them with a calm that only gratitude can bring.

In fact, it’s this attitude that leads to presence, joy, and happiness in your life. Holidays tend to make us forget all of the things we are grateful for while we stress and run around, instead of letting us enjoy all the blessings that we have in our life.

Use these steps every day and practice them until they become a habit. Then, let yourself enjoy the holidays, as well as every day your so blessed to have.