Have you ever had to express something you’re grateful for around the dinner table? Perhaps at Thanksgiving?  I know most people have had to face that awkward moment perhaps feeling a little embarrassed, but the idea really packs some power and unleashes a load of blessings.

 

Gratitude is simply the ability to be grateful for things in your life. Do you ever sit around and just smile in gratitude for the things you have?  What about the things you don’t have? Understanding the power of gratitude will unleash amazing things in your life. Many successful and happy people share that one reason they are where they are and feel as good as they do is because they learned that the power of gratitude is incredible.

 

Learn to express gratitude

 

If you desire to attract positive things into your life and simply feel happy, learn to appreciate and be grateful for the good and the bad in your life.  Be thankful for breath in your lungs, your home, your loved ones, your job, your current challenges and so on.  Look around and simply say, “Thank you” for anything and everything.

 

It is a great idea to get a journal and write down all of the things you are grateful for; call it your Gratitude Journal.  Or simply make a Gratitude List and stick it on your refrigerator. Let me clue you in on an amazing truth:

 

As you offer gratitude for the good things in your life, you are actually attracting MORE good things into your life.

 

Isn’t that wonderful?

 

If you understand the law of attraction, thoughts and words have certain vibrations.  Negative thoughts and words have low vibrations and positive thoughts and words have high vibrations.  Offering grateful thoughts and words emits high vibrations, which in turn will attract high vibrational things to you like love, favor, finances, and other things that you would consider good.

 

Be happy with your current reality

 

What it means to be grateful is to be thankful for your blessings, acknowledging all the good in your life. It means being happy with your present state no matter what is going on. It is a conscious effort to view your life from a positive perspective and rejoice in all the good. By default, if you do this, you will NOT be focusing on the negative things in your life, which is superb.

 

 

Psychological research shows that an attitude of gratitude helps people to feel happier and experience less stress.  There have actually been experiments done with those who suffer from depression. Those that began living with an attitude of gratitude found that depressive symptoms decreased and happiness increased.  This is no surprise to those who understand spiritual principles.  The law of attraction is a law: What you focus on, you get more of, so focus on being grateful for all the GOOD things in your life.

 

Along with feeling happier, those who embrace gratitude tend to be healthier, more creative, and more resilient.  They also seem to have more fulfilling social connections. Keep in mind that being grateful does not mean that everything in life is wonderful; it simply means that you are aware of the good things in your life and ignoring the unpleasant things.

 

I went through a tough time a few years back and I wanted so badly to stay in that ungrateful mode and give myself a pity party. Thankfully, I had a friend who would not let me stay in that ungrateful spot. She also nailed me on entertaining the victim mentality.  She would remind me to make a gratitude list and stop whining and complaining. She would encourage me to stop telling the same old story and create a new story that was filled with gratitude, power, and faith.  I am grateful that I have a friend like that in my life that will speak into my life when I need to hear such things. Friends like that don’t come around very often.  At the same time, I can be that kind of friend to someone else.

 

The next time you find yourself feeling down or complaining about things, get that piece of paper and pen out and jot down everything that you ARE grateful for.  You can even read your list out loud emphatically.  You might even want to go for a walk and mentally attune to the things you’re feeling happy about in your life. This could range from your family to your sports car to your jig saw in the garage.  You can be grateful for small and large things. I assure you that if you do this and get into the habit of saying “Thank you” more often, your attitude and countenance will change for the better.  It has to because the law of attraction will be at work for you!

 

What are you grateful for?