Gratitude is an active practice and starts with a simple decision of what you choose to focus on. What you focus on expands, and if you stay in disappointment, you focus on lack, limitations, and less-than and get more of that. When you choose gratitude, you focus on abundance, opportunities, and possibilities and attract more of that.

Gratitude is having an appreciation for the full spectrum of life, what Buddhism calls the 10,000 joys and the 10,000 sorrows. This is illustrated beautifully by Cheryl Richardson:

The strange thing is, as I sit here thinking about the last year and what I feel most grateful for, turns out it's the painful experiences that forced me to stretch and bend and surrender. Because of them, I'm happier today than I have been in a long time. I feel more aligned with my Essence. And I'm blessed to enjoy relationships that are authentic and loving.

When we allow the alchemy of change to occur, we earn the gold.

The key word here is "allow." Over the past year there were certainly times when I tried to resist change, to manage the perception of others, and to control the outcome of situations I didn't like. None of it worked. Ultimately I had to let go and trust that Life was bringing me exactly what my soul needed to heal and blossom and grow.

And it did.

Every disappointment, every relationship that changed or ended, every missed opportunity and unfulfilled expectation all created the most beautiful chance to become more of who I really am.

Who would have thought that I'd end up here.

Today, I give thanks for the pain.

I’m grateful to Life for allowing me to experience exactly what my heart needs to grow and prosper and heal.

Words associated with Gratitude

Full, Fulfilling, Appreciation, Possibilities, Thanksgiving, Open, Possibilities, Humble, Inviting, Peace, Relief, Acceptance, Order, Clarity, Presence, Enough

When you give thanks to God, the Universe, Spirit, people in your life, or anything else, the mere act of feeling grateful leads you to a greater vitality and optimism. Gratitude opens the heart to compassion and love and lets go of the ego.

It is proven gratitude makes you happy. In their book How We Choose to be Happy, Rick Foster and Greg Hicks found nine choices happy people make and one of them is practicing gratitude. Many studies suggest that gratitude can bring a positive mindset and by practicing gratitude, we can actually raise our “happiness set-point,” regardless of the situation.

Other benefits of gratitude include:

1. Feeling more connected and less lonely

2. Stronger immune system

3. Improved emotional equilibrium

4. Better sleep

5. Increased energy

6. More confidence in ourselves

7. Deeper relaxation

8. Feeling more attractive

9. Increased creativity

10. Easier bounce back from difficulty

A mindset of gratitude also magnifies your positive emotions, and helps block toxic, negative emotions. By focusing on what you’re grateful for, you see even more to be grateful for, and that leaves much less time to dwell on the negative.

Too often we focus on everything we don’t have, when instead we can choose to focus on abundance and experience a feeling of gratitude for our many blessings. Gratitude requires us to look for the good first, before the dragons of fear and worry sneak in. It has been proven you cannot experience gratitude and anxiety at the same time.

Get grateful to be happy-We often think we have to be happy in order to be grateful. What we really need to do is get grateful in order to be happy. Gratitude is a simple practice, but not always easy because we have become a society of entitlement and complacency. Entitlement robs us of our awe and the opportunity to be grateful. We give little thought to having clean water to drink, heat to keep us warm and food to keep us full because most of us have never known a life without these modern conveniences.

Core Practices

Gratitude Practices