Gratitude In All Things

During the day, I spend a lot of time talking and preaching about the power of gratitude. How many of you have something in your life that you are grateful for? 

I’m betting that right now you are thinking of a happy memory, a positive event, or someone meaningful in your life. It’s easy to be grateful in great situations. It’s far more challenging to be grateful in not-so-great situations. 

Personally, I believe that when gratitude is expressed in non-ideal conditions, for instance in great anger and sadness, it can become a much more meaningful and powerful experience.

Power of Gratitude

The practice of gratitude changes you. There’s a mountain of research that shows the positive, life-changing benefits of developing a practice of gratitude and thankfulness.

It helps us in so many other ways: Health, Social (kinder, smile more), Career (networking), Personality (optimistic), and Emotional (relaxed, good feelings and happier memories).

It offers a chance to fix a point in our day where we can be intentional about honoring and acknowledging where we are right now and how we got here. 

What does it look like to be grateful?

Gratitude is not happiness. You can have and express gratitude in great encompassing anger, and in all-consuming sadness. I personally would argue that gratitude can be more meaningful when expressed under non-ideal conditions. To be able to be present in drama and tragedy, and hold gratitude in your heart is next level. 

How do we become grateful? 

Gratitude is not hard. It’s simply taking time to think and express the positive things in your life. 

Practice, practice, practice. We practice in order to be so used to thinking and feeling gratitude that we can summon it even in the worst of situations. 

Q: How many of you have a daily gratitude journal? For those who don’t, I would encourage you to discover for yourself the power that gratitude can bring into all areas of your life. 

Create a gratitude journal. Then every day, write down one or two things that you are grateful for. 

Do this every day, especially those days that suck!

Q: How many of you have something in your life that makes you angry, frustrated, or sad that you can still find gratitude in? 

When we are practiced at finding gratitude in ALL things and in ALL situations, we find true happiness, meaning, and purpose.

Conclusion

You can find gratitude in ALL things and in ALL situations. You can be grateful in sadness, anger, happiness, and even nervousness. When gratitude is expressed this way, it can become so much more powerful.

What would a daily practice of gratitude look like in your life? What situations have you had in your life that you can now look back on and be grateful for? 

When you practice and experience it for yourself, it is a profound life-changing experience.

Kevin Ringstaff is a Grief Recovery Specialist, Pet Loss Grief Counselor, Pet Chaplain, and Entrepreneur who writes and speaks about grief to anyone who will listen. If you like this video, check out my other projects.

www.kevinringstaff.com
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www.greivingatwork.com