Being grateful can have a lot of benefits, ranging from the physical, mental, and emotional. And before you dismiss it as a new-age practice, know that it’s actually backed up by science. With all these amazing effects, it’s important to find ways to incorporate gratitude into your daily life.
Note that this isn’t a happy pill for 24/7 bliss. You have to practice gratitude consistently and make an effort to change your mindset. Once you do this, you stop focusing on what you don’t have, but on what you do. It is making the constant choice to be grateful instead of complaining, and most of the time, that spells the difference between discontentment and happiness.
Also, practicing gratitude doesn’t always have to be a solitary or serious endeavor. There are ways to do it in groups and make it fun. Mixing it up makes incorporating gratitude into your daily life enjoyable too.
1. Create a gratitude jar
A gratitude jar is a great way to incorporate gratitude into your daily life. Usually, people write things they are thankful for and place them into a jar. Then they read them at the end of the year and look back at all the blessings they received. This is a good way for families or offices to bond and reflect on what was achieved and received in the past months.
Another way to use a gratitude jar would be to fill them with prompts or quotes, then pick one up in the day. If it’s a prompt, you answer it. If it’s a quote, read it and feel inspired. I find this really helpful especially when you feel exhausted after a long day. You can pick something and feel refreshed when you look back at something to be thankful for.
You can get all creative with your gratitude jar and use differently colored papers and paint to make it brighter. That way, you feel invigorated just by looking at it. For starters, you can grab my free gratitude jar printables from my resource library below.
2. Have a gratitude scavenger hunt
A fun way to practice gratitude for weekend gatherings with friends or family is to create a scavenger hunt. Instead of specific items however, you need to find things you are grateful for. For example, one of the things you can look for is something that makes you laugh or something you use everyday but take for granted. You can use your phone to take photos of these things and the first to complete the list would be the winner.
Playing this can make you reflect on the things you are grateful for. You may even see things or people that have made your life easier but never really took the time to appreciate!
3. Incorporate gratitude into your daily life with a journal
One of the more popular ways of practicing gratitude, a journal is really versatile and flexible. Not only can you write down the things that made you especially thankful for the day, but you can also make it a diary, a mood tracker, and a mini-scrapbook of your life.
I personally prefer writing in my gratitude journal at the end of the day before I go to sleep. I spend a few moments looking back at the day while playing some relaxing music (here’s a list of no-lyric music I recommend). After that I go ahead and write.
You don’t need to write essays (although you can if you want). Feel free to just jot down bullet points of the people, situations, or things you were thankful for. That can change your mood and make you sleep better.
4. Play gratitude bingo
You can play this game with your family and friends to supplement your gratitude practice. It’s basically bingo but instead of letters and numbers, you complete gratitude tasks. Race your friends or family to blackout the whole card and offer prizes for the winner. Who knew practicing gratitude could be so much fun?
5. Use a gratitude wallpaper
If you want to be reminded to be grateful throughout the day, use a gratitude wallpaper for your computer and phone. That way, you can think of something that made you smile every time you see it. Here’s a free wallpaper that you can download from my resource library.
You can also choose to use a quote on gratitude to inspire you. You can find many of them online. Change it up regularly for a fresh dose of motivation.
6. Do a monthly gratitude challenge
Form a habit of gratitude through monthly gratitude challenges. These are calendars that have a question or a daily task connected to being grateful. There are a lot of free ones out there that you can get or you can also make one yourself.
The important part is to make sure to do the challenge everyday so you slowly incorporate it into your daily life. After a month, practicing some of those tasks will become more natural to you.
7. Pray to incorporate gratitude into your daily life
If you believe in God or a creator, saying a prayer of thanks to them regularly is a way of incorporating gratitude into your daily life. Do it before and after meals. Give thanks when you wake up, open your eyes, and take your first waking breath. End your day with a prayer of thanks. You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes.
Try using some phone wallpapers with messages that inspire you to pray and be thankful.
8. Make a gratitude wall or board
There are vision boards that inspire you, and there are also walls that can lift you up when you’re down. If you want to be creative, you can paint an entire wall with the things that make you happy. You can write names of people, draw things, doodle events and memories. If you don’t want to paint directly on your wall, you can use a large board or paper roll. If you’re using a board, you can add photos of your loved ones too.
You can also make it a daily activity by adding a chalkboard or blackboard at home and writing one thing you are grateful for everyday. That way, even if it’s a super hard day, your mindset will always be to find something to be thankful for.
9. Say thanks to incorporate gratitude into your daily life
The most simple way to incorporate gratitude into your daily life is to say thanks directly. Express your appreciation to your colleague or parent. Make it a habit to always say thank you no matter how small something is. That way, you prevent taking people for granted.
Make a point of always saying it sincerely. That’s because there’s a tendency for words to lose their meaning when you always say them. So, say ‘thank you’ with a smile and mean it.
Start incorporating gratitude into your daily life
Being thankful comes more naturally when you keep doing it. Once you incorporate gratitude into your daily life, you’ll be surprised at how your mindset will change to focus on the positive things. Appreciate all things, big or small, because they all contribute to your life and to you as a person.
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