Episode 28 of Real Brave & Unstoppable: How to Practice Gratitude and Why it Works.
Why does practicing gratitude work?
My Mom gave me a gratitude journal many years ago when I was going through a hard time. I thought it seemed so cliche and dumb. I mean, how was writing down three things going to help me feel better?
I did it begrudgingly just to humor her (sorry, Mom!) but didn’t really see any results from doing it. I would pull the journal out from time to time (when things felt hard, when I was unhappy, or if I was struggling with something) but it mostly felt like I was going through the motions.
When I was going through my divorce, I was in a really dark place and I was desperate to feel better. I figured giving the good ol’ gratitude journal a try again would hurt.
So, I pulled out that journal and once again, started listing off things I was grateful for.
Again, I didn’t really see too much of a change.
One day, when I was feeling quite a bit better, I was reflecting on the things in my life that brought me to where I was in that moment. I realized something amazing.
My default mindset was one of gratitude. My default, autopilot mindset was to look at the good in things.
After so many years of feeling hopeless, like I would be suffering forever, somehow along the way, the simple act of focusing on what was going well, or the silver linings in things, helped me shift my default way of thinking.
If you’re tired of hearing how a gratitude practice can change your life, I encourage you to listen to this episode of Real, Brave & Unstoppable. In it, I talk about some of the research that has been done and that shows the link between practicing gratitude and happiness. I talk about some ways you can practice gratitude – it doesn’t have to be simply writing down three things you’re thankful for. I talk about why gratitude works and why it doesn’t mean that you have to be positive all the time, walking around like your life is only rainbows and unicorns.
Listen to the episode here:
How do you practice gratitude in your life? Have you found it’s made an impact?
Comment below!
