Leverage gratefulness for a more effective (and happy) life

Today, I'm grateful. This feeling will inoculate me from a bad mood, uncooperative behavior and a lack of energy.  Why am I grateful? 

I have this feeling because I practice gratefulness every morning. It is my new morning devotional. With my morning cup of coffee, I create list of things to be grateful for. I'm very specific and don't contrive or include the trivial. 

When I finish my list, I read it outloud. Finally, I take five minutes to close my eyes, smile, and contemplate this fantastic life I've been given. This practice has a powerful impact on me in every way: physically, emotionally and spiritually. I can't believe this hasn't been part of my morning routine my entire life. 

What am I giving up to do this? Some newspaper time, idle net surfing and checking my email. Those morning habits don't contribute to my effectiveness like the practice of gratefulness.  

This will not be my last post on this subject. It's my belief that you can't be hateful when you are grateful. When you have a bad attitude in a role (work, family, etc.), you've likely lost your gratefulness and need to refresh it to be effective.  What are you grateful for? 

Comments

[Dava Stewart]

I first came across the idea of a "Gratitude Journal" reading Gretchen Rubin's wonderful blog The Happiness Project. But instead of a journal, I email a list of things I am grateful for to a friend or family member each day. It is surprising how many of them thank me for it. I worried the emails would bore my friends, but people are glad to have a reason to contemplate good things. I am finding that it changes my outlook generally as well--it is sort of training me to think of good things when I start feeling grumpy.

[Peggy]

I would shout amen and say that it is the first word of my "GRACE" acronym that has been the formula for "survival" after losing my husband to esophageal cancer at age 56.

Sarah Breathnach writes about this ("Simple Abundance") and has a companion journal that encourages recording five gratitudes daily. I have been using that and it's a wonderful tool for prompting creative (and grateful!) contemplation over the day.

[Mike Levy]

Tim, I can't remember where I just read about this: either Ken Robinson encouraged this in his book "The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything" or Matthew Kelly talked about this in his book "The Dream Manager" (both excellent books, by the way). In any case, I have started practicing this by reviewing at bed time what I am grateful for about the day, and then on awakening in the morning expressing my gratitude for being given another day on earth. This sure helps put into perspective all the doom and gloom that I am bombarded with daily through the media.

[Jeff Davis]

Tim, I've been doing this for a year and a half. However, I do it at the end of the day instead of at the beginning. I have filled up 2 journals already. A great piece of advice for us all.