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Why Gratitude Matters (Not Just on Thanksgiving)
In this episode of Working Towards Our Purpose, in honor of the Thanksgiving season, we are going to talk about gratitude. I believe gratitude shouldn’t just be a once-a-year thing because something that can help us enjoy and savor our lives more now, in the present moment. It’s something that can actually change how we experience our lives.
Defining Gratitude
I recently came across a definition that stuck with me: Gratitude means feeling good now and not putting it off to the future. So often, we delay feeling thankful for what we have right now, until we hit some big milestone. But there’s so much value in being grateful for the small things. Being thankful for the things you have now can be a daily practice, not just something we think about around the Thanksgiving table.
Negativity Bias
Gratitude is so important because our brains are wired to focus more heavily on the negative things that happen to us rather than the positive. This was a mechanism designed to help keep us safe back when humans hunted, gathered, and lived outside. Remembering the bad things was a helpful form of survival. But today, focusing only on the negative isn’t as much a survival technique, but a way that we hold ourselves back from our potential. By practicing gratitude, we can help balance out those negative thoughts and memories with more positive ones. Practicing gratitude can help us see the many good things that happen each day that we don’t normally pay attention to.
5 Ways to Bring Gratitude Into Your Life Now
Write it out: Grab a piece of paper and bullet point out an entire page of things you’re grateful for. The act of writing helps shift your mindset, even if you start simple (like hot coffee, or being able to breathe). I find handwriting is better than typing.
Go for a walk: I always mention this, but for good reason! Walking helps ground you by putting you in nature, and naturally helps to bring up more gratitude as you move your body and notice what’s around you.
Reflect before bed: Can’t fall sleep at night? Try thinking about three good things that happened during that day. Thinking about three things you’re grateful for actually helps quiet the worries while reflecting on the positive parts of your day.
Thank your food: Before eating, try pausing and thanking mother earth for the food that’s in front of you. It doesn’t have to be a forced religious thing, but more a mini gratitude practice tied to something we all do daily. I like how it connects us a little bit more to our food by thinking about where it comes from and all the different people involved in the process.
Find one thing right now: Comment one thing that you are grateful for right now, so there’s no excuse to put off these other practices. Start now!
It’s About Perspective
I love this quote from Einstein:
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, and the other is as though everything is a miracle.”
How we perceive the world makes up how we feel about it. We can choose to see things, even the smallest thing, and be grateful. Gratitude isn’t about ignoring the hard stuff, it’s about finding space for goodness, even when things aren’t perfect. We can literally change how we experience life by choosing to look for the good in our days.
Let me know what you are grateful for in the comments!
This article was drafted with the help of AI (castmagic: podcast to text) but then reviewed and edited by a human being.