Why Be Thankful? Exploring the Power of Gratitude
gratitude will determine your altitude
Have you ever heard it said, “gratitude is the attitude that will determine your altitude in life?”
When it comes to gratitude, I myself have quite a difficult time in the midst of a busy schedule to remind myself to be thankful for what I have. We are doing our best to live our optimal life now but seem to be running from one thing to the next. At times though, we need to take a deep breath and pause to reflect on what it is that got us to this point and who we had to become to overcome these challenges.
Why be thankful? Gratitude allows your mind to celebrate your wins and embrace the good things that are already in your life. Even more so, it empowers you to enjoy yourself. Give your brain a break and rest in the goodness that you are more than enough and a worthy individual.
During this holiday season, I suggest we take time to come and reflect on not the external things that we are thankful for, but the internal struggles that we have overcome this past year. Some of us, maybe more so than others, had to overcome insurmountable challenges. Maybe it was being locked down at home, baby crying, bills that kept piling up, working from home while managing the kids school and homework, etc. Yet after all that, we are still here. We are learning and still growing into the best human being we can be.
Thanking yourself is essential to personal and mental health
Over the course of the next few weeks, I encourage you to recognize the amazing job you’ve done and thank yourself for not giving up or giving in. Yes, there are definitely areas can still improve. Then again, we also deserve to be recognized for the incredible person that we’ve become.
Gratitude to yourself and who you are is the attitude that will determine your altitude in the coming season.
Build daily habits to build your optimal life
Practical Application: All of us have morning habits such as making coffee, checking our email, or brushing our teeth. I recommend that you use a hack I learned a while ago called habit stacking, where you schedule in a new habit on top of a old habit you have already established. For example, every morning when I wake up to take a shower, right after I turn on the water, I pause for a few seconds and reflect on the things I’m thankful for. It may be 3 or 5 things, but I discipline my mind to think in this way so it will condition me for the rest of the day to be as positive and productive as possible. In the beginning if it’s difficult to do, write it out or speak it out, and you’ll see gradual improvements. To solidify the habit, I challenge you think of 3 different things you are thankful for everyday for the next 21 days!
In our next blog, I’ll share about how to create gratitude not only as a habit, but as a discipline in response to the situations in our lives that cause us the greatest anxiety.