I am thrilled to be here with you today to discuss a topic that can truly transform our lives,
And that is gratitude.
This is something you've probably heard talked about before.
It's not necessarily anything new,
But I really want to touch on this,
Explore what it means,
What it looks like,
And how it can help us.
To truly live a more meaningful and rewarding life.
So let's start by defining gratitude.
Gratitude is a deep and heartfelt appreciation for the blessings,
Big and small,
That enrich our lives.
It's about acknowledging and recognizing the good things that surround us,
Especially in challenging times.
Gratitude can be directed toward people.
It can be directed toward experiences,
Toward our surroundings,
Nature,
Moments of personal growth,
Where we are grateful for something that we are taking action to do ourselves.
It can encompass everything.
Why does gratitude matter?
Well,
It turns out that cultivating a grateful mindset has many,
Many benefits,
And I want to touch on just a couple of them today.
Research has shown that practicing gratitude can improve our mental and emotional well-being.
And how does that work?
Well,
It helps to reduce stress.
It helps to lessen anxious feelings.
It increases our overall happiness and our satisfaction with life.
Secondly,
Gratitude can strengthen our relationships.
When we express gratitude to others,
It fosters a sense of connection.
It deepens our bonds with those people,
Whether it's our friends,
Our family,
Our coworkers,
Our colleagues,
You name it.
We can create a deeper connection,
A stronger bond with each other.
It's a really powerful tool for building and maintaining positive relationships in our lives.
And gratitude isn't all about the external.
It's also about self-growth.
So when we reflect on our challenges and we're looking for lessons or ways that we can grow through these challenges,
We're looking for those silver linings.
We're looking for what good can come from this challenging situation,
This experience.
So it teaches us to have a little bit of resilience.
It helps us face adversity with a more positive outlook.
So we know what gratitude is.
We know why it's important.
Let's talk about how to practice it daily in our lives,
Because I do encourage you to consider this daily.
Make this a practice that just becomes a habit.
I'll talk about why that's important in a second.
So one simple but effective tool is a gratitude journal.
You can write this down.
I put it into my planner.
So each day,
I'm thinking about,
What am I grateful for that's happened in the last 24 hours or so?
Some people put notes into their phone.
You can voice record.
Whatever works for you.
There is something powerful about putting pen to paper and seeing it and being able to go back through your planner or back through a journal and be reminded of those things.
So write down three things that you're grateful for.
I usually start with three.
They can be as small as someone holding the door for you,
A smile from a stranger as you're walking down the street.
It could be very significant,
Something major that's happened,
Something you've achieved or something that's happened with your family.
Spending time doing this helps us find more things each day to be grateful for.
So don't limit yourself to three things.
As time goes on,
Your list will likely grow.
Three things will be easy.
But start with that.
If this is something new,
I encourage you to just begin with those few things and see what happens.
See how you feel.
I like to also invite you to make them a little bit more detailed.
One of my favorite examples of this is,
I'm grateful for dinner with my family.
We were all sitting together.
That's pretty normal in my household,
Even though I am grateful for it all of the time.
One thing that I could do to make that more specific is,
I'm grateful for the conversation with my son at dinner.
Or I'm grateful for the meal we prepared.
Make it a little bit more specific.
Taking just one more step helps us see beyond that surface level stuff.
Another gratitude practice is to let others know that you're grateful for them.
There's a saying,
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
So you feel this gratitude.
You feel grateful for someone or something that they did for you.
Express that.
Take a moment to think about how you could show that other person that you see in the things that they're doing for you,
Or the kindness that they showed you,
Or the support that they've given you.
How can you express gratitude for them?
This goes back to what I mentioned about fostering that sense of connection and building those bonds with each other.
How can you wrap this package and then give it to them?
Maybe it's sending a text.
Maybe it's a little voice note.
Maybe sending a card in the mail or like a little gift.
Just something thoughtful saying,
I appreciate you.
Or this thing you did for me was very kind and thoughtful.
It's really amazing.
And again,
Just creates those relationships,
That strength between each other.
One way I wanted to share with you to get the whole family involved,
If you wanted to,
Your whole household,
Is to create a gratitude jar.
You could have some little Post-it notes.
You could just cut up some little scrap paper for everyone to use.
Each day invites your family,
Your household,
To put something into the jar.
Every day,
Add a little slip into the jar.
You could do more than one if you want to,
But at least one every day.
And at the end of the week,
Or at the end of the month,
Or at the end of the year,
Whatever works for you,
You could do all three.
Take a look through the slips in the jar and just remember all the amazing things that happened in your life.
So often,
We forget the little things.
And as time goes on,
It's nice to reflect.
It's nice to acknowledge things that make us feel good and bring us joy.
So there are lots of ways to practice gratitude.
These are just a few that I personally love.
I encourage you to join me in these practices.
Find your own that you enjoy,
Whatever works for you,
To build that positivity,
Create that mindset of gratitude,
And inspire each other.
Really,
That's what a lot of this comes down to.
Gratitude is a powerful tool that can enhance our well-being.
It can strengthen our relationships.
It can fuel our personal growth.
And by embracing a mindset of gratitude,
We can create a more meaningful and rewarding life for not only ourselves,
But the people around us.
So thank you for joining me,
For listening to this session.
Remember to practice gratitude daily,
And we can make our world,
The world around us,
A brighter and more thankful place,
Just one simple moment at a time.
