I went to a talk recently. The speaker brought to light the fact we do not acknowledge small acts of kindness that happen to us on a daily basis. It got me thinking! We tend to focus on what’s wrong all the time. Gratitude is something that we need to cultivate. Like planting a seed and watching it blossom. Time to put on a different hat.
Training your brain to acknowledge the good things
The idea is that you are training your brain to acknowledge the good things that happen to you on a daily basis. Your brain takes in millions of pieces of information each day. Naturally, it filters some things. Otherwise you would not be able to cope with all that information.
Let’s get grateful about the small things
Sometimes, we filter out the nice things that happen too. Has anyone ever said to you “you look really great”. Our natural reaction is “oh this, I have it ages, got it for next to nothing”. Look what happens here: We totally filter out the compliment. At the end of the day, we forget someone said something really nice and it felt good. Instead we think “ I had a crap day at work”.
Begin to notice the nice things that happen to you
It is really important to practice being grateful. For example, when you are bleary eyed, and ready to turn off the light, take a pen and paper and list five things that happened during the day that you are grateful for. Now when I do this, and If I am stuck for something to write, I might start off by writing “the car started this morning”. This is just to get the natural flow going. Perhaps it might be that the “dog wagged his tail when he saw me”. Obviously it’s far better if you have a dog when writing this one! But you get where I am coming from. Start the ball rolling by being grateful about the little things.
Being grateful each evening will end the day on a good note
Before you go to sleep tonight, take a piece of paper and a pen and jot down five things that happened to you today that made you feel good, made you feel happy. Perhaps it was that someone who opened the door for you and said “you go first”. Maybe it’s that your son or daughter said “I think you are the best in the whole wide world”. Maybe you have recently been sick and are just so happy to feel better. We need to get real about being grateful.
Being grateful each evening will end the day on a good note and surely that is a good thing.
So how grateful are you to-day?