On Gratitude

Published on May 10, 2017

       

“Gratitude is not a condition, it’s a decision. It’s a decision we make to look past the apparent problems in our life and find the good.”

— Wes Hopper

Gratitude is usually seen when we celebrate festivals like Thanksgiving or New Years. The holiday season makes us all so much more grateful to others and the things in our life. Everyone is thanking each other (especially for all those presents we receive!) and there is general appreciation all around.

And then as the months pass us by, we slowly let our gratitude guard low. We forget to appreciate the things others do for us and even take things for granted sometimes. Simple thank you notes or words of appreciation are lost in the chaos of everyday life. Is this really so bad? “When i’m really grateful to someone, i’ll let them know,” we think. And those moments pass us by silently most times.

So how does gratitude help us? Does it merely serve the purpose of making the other person feel better? As psychologist Barbara Fredrickson says, when we feel grateful, we want to find a creative way to give back or even pay it forward to someone else. It inspires others to be kind and recognize kindness. When we are thankful for the good things in our life, we get more of what we want to achieve in life and work. How? Because most of the times, we get what we focus on and act on.

Like joy, gratitude is easy to practice and a great social skill to build. Here are some ways we can easily practice gratitude:

  • Appreciate/Thank someone or something everyday. Even if it is a small, routine gesture – it matters. Thank your laptop for not giving up on you, thank the person who serves you and so on.
  • Take a few moments to appreciate something happening around you. (Eg: A sunny day, less traffic on the road etc)
  • If you want to up your gratitude game – keep a ‘gratitude journal’. Write 5 – 6 things you appreciate/thankful for from your day. Reading these later or on low days can help lift your spirit.
  • For the ones who like challenges – find something to be thankful for on the difficult days. Days when everything seems to be going wrong – make sure to pause and find something to feel grateful for.

So go ahead and give it a try. Not just only when the Christmas tree is up with all the pretty gifts and large amount of chocolate and cookies everywhere. But more so, everyday after.


Category(s):Positive Psychology

Written by:

Sudeeptha Grama

The Coffee Shop Counsellor, Sudeeptha Grama is a practitioner of Positive Psychology, counselling people in the field of depression, stress management, relationship management, conflict resolution and work-life balance.
She believes in creating a comfortable and empathetic environment and tackling various issues through practical

Sudeeptha Grama belongs to The CoffeeShop Counsellor in India