Practicing Gratitude Can Change Your Life

Gratitude can be expressed as an act of being thankful for and appreciating something that you have. It is acknowledging all the good things that you have in your life and being humbled and thankful for everything you have. Gratitude has tremendous power, which is often underestimated, and its benefits are countless. Gratitude is the most overlooked tool that we all have access to, and it's free. Practicing gratitude can change our lives for the better.

In this busy life, we are all running after something, chasing something that will make us happier once we achieve it. But, we are never fulfilled and our minds always want more. Our desires never end, and we keep on running after our desires, and this race never ends. We never sit back and relax and think about our blessings, all the things that we already have in our life. We all have countless blessings in our lives, but we never even consider them, and we never feel happy about them, unless we lose them. We often realize the worth of things only after we have lost them. We only focus on the things that we do not have in our lives, instead of focusing on everything that we have. And this is the primary reason for our unhappiness. Let's understand this with a small story.

A professor entered the classroom and asked the students to prepare for the surprise test. The students were anxious and waited for the test to begin. The professor handed out the question paper with the text facing down, as always, and asked the students to begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions, just a black dot somewhere around the bottom of the page. The professor then said, "I want you to write about what you see there." The students were confused and they got started on the task. At the end of the class, the professor collected the papers and started reading each one aloud in front of all the students. All of them, without any exception, described the black dot, trying to explain its size and position on the paper. In the end, the classroom went silent, and then finally the professor explained, "I am not going to grade you on this. I just want to give you something to think about." No one wrote anything about the white part of the paper. Everyone is focused on the black dot, and the same thing happens in our lives. Our life is a special gift from God, and we always have a reason to celebrate. And yet we focus on the dark spots in our lives. We tend to focus only on the problems like health issues, financial issues, relationship issues, disappointments in social life, etc. The professor continued, "The dark spots are very small compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that occupy our minds and make us unhappy." Look away from the black spots in your life. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you.”

Research shows that gratitude makes you feel happier, because the moment you express your gratitude, you are thankful for something that you have. And your attention goes to the things that you have in your life, and you feel happy about them. It boosts your mood and elevates your emotions. It improves your psychological health and increases your immunity. It reduces stress and anxiety. It also improves your sleep quality. Gratitude improves and deepens your relationships as you are thankful for the people in your life. It makes you more optimistic and increases your self-esteem. It makes you feel good and increases your productivity. Practicing gratitude regularly can have enormous effects on your life, and you can become healthier, happier, and more fulfilled. As the saying goes,

Imagine that every day in your bank account, you get a new balance of 86,400 dollars that you can use on the same day and cannot be carried forward to the next day. What will you do? You will spend it completely in the best possible way, as you won’t get that again. So why don't you do the same with your life? Every day, you have 86,400 seconds to live your life to the fullest. These are the precious moments that you will never get back in your life, but we mostly spend this time being anxious and unhappy. We never express gratitude for the time we have got in our lives. Every day when you wake up, develop the habit of being grateful for the day. Express thanks for the new day. Take a minute and think about everything you have in your life and be grateful for it. Maintain a gratitude journal, and every day, when you go to bed at night, write five things that you are grateful for. If you can’t think about it, you can be grateful for the chirping of the birds, the amazing sunrise and sunset, the rain, the trees, the fruits, the children playing in the park, spending time with your loved ones, hanging out with friends, watching a wonderful soccer game, etc. There are countless things in your life, and this list can never end.

So, shift your focus to the things that you have in your life, do not look for the things that are missing. And thank God for everything you have received in your life. In spirituality, we say, "Appreciate the things that you do have in your life, and you will create more of them." We all have so many things in life to be grateful for. So, develop the attitude of gratitude, be grateful, and enjoy each moment of your life. Be happy and enjoy life.