This is the time of year when we tend to think about being grateful \u2013 at least if you\u2019re not already practicing gratitude regularly.\u00a0 After all tomorrow is Thanksgiving \u2013 a day we often associate with sharing the things we\u2019re grateful for \u2013 before digging into the feast.\u00a0 Yet, it seems as a society we\u2019re thinking more and more about gratitude \u2013 and the value gratitude has on our own lives.\u00a0 How often do you take time to consider what you are grateful for?<\/p>\n
It can be all too easy to downplay and dismiss the value of expressing your gratitude \u2013 after all you\u2019re busy and the things going right don\u2019t require<\/i> your attention, either in remembering or for problem solving.\u00a0 One day is enough, isn\u2019t it, for sharing the things you\u2019re grateful for?<\/p>\n
Although we certainly don\u2019t want to forget those things in life that need further attention from us, there is value in remembering all the things that went right, that there were things that we can be grateful for.\u00a0 Human nature is to focus on the negative, yet this just reinforces the ruts in our brain that can limit our thinking and perspective.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year at the ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization) conference, one of the speakers talked to all of us about \u201cLiving Stress Free.\u201d\u00a0 Lots of things can contribute to our stress level and the way they interact then has a further impact.\u00a0 Therefore, we can reverse the path to stress with some practice and tools.\u00a0 And you probably guessed it \u2013 one of those tools is expressing gratitude.<\/p>\n
His recommendation was at the end of every week to count your blessing with these 2 steps: 1) recall 3 things from the prior week for which you are grateful and 2) acknowledge 3 things in your life (not time constrained, but overall) for which you feel blessed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He went on to share that research suggests that this practice translates into people with less depression and stress and that they are more likely to make progress on important personal goals.<\/p>\n
New to me was that there is some evidence that counting your blessings once a week is more beneficial than doing it every day.\u00a0\u00a0 I found contradictory information on this in my research \u2013 and overall that there is no consensus yet about the frequency.\u00a0 There seems to be no debate about the value of being grateful \u2013 of making a practice of it \u2013 as long as you don\u2019t get so habituated to it.\u00a0 Consider the feelings that accompany being grateful \u2013 those are part of what benefits the brain.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it can be challenging to find things that you are grateful for \u2013 whether you\u2019re experiencing depression, a series of tough life events, or whatever else it might be that interferes with identifying the blessings in your life.\u00a0 Every organizing client that I\u2019ve had has had areas where they are successful \u2013 though they don\u2019t always recognize it.\u00a0 Search out the parts you are succeeding with \u2013 I insist there are some! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
Due to my worldview, the obstacles and struggles I\u2019ve faced in my life are blessings \u2013 they helped me learn and grow.\u00a0 So even in the midst of a struggle, I can be grateful.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m not frustrated or challenged, simply that I have confidence that it will in the long run be a blessing for my life.<\/p>\n
Similarly, you can feel gratitude for the goals and desires you have.\u00a0 Where would you be without those?\u00a0 If you\u2019re dealing with a cluttered living space and desire more order \u2013 can you acknowledge the strength and blessing of wanting it to change?\u00a0 This focuses on the positive \u2013 which will support us in moving forward.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve probably all heard that \u201cThanksgiving was never meant to be limited to one day.\u201d When we make a habit of gratitude we shift things for ourselves \u2013 we\u2019re more resilient, more realistic about our self-worth (rather than pessimistic), and it helps us live mindfully in the present moment.\u00a0 With my approach of experimenting \u2013 if you find yourself resistant to the idea of making a practice of gratitude in your life, test it out.\u00a0 Commit to 2 weeks and just do it \u2013 and then observe \u2013 how do you feel? Has anything changed? In what ways?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Giving thanks on more than just this one day each year can benefit your life and likely improve the world!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,6],"tags":[10,8,18,13,9,7,22,15,4],"class_list":["post-1676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holidayhelp","category-personaldevelopment","tag-behavior","tag-discipline","tag-goals","tag-gratitude","tag-motivation","tag-procrastination","tag-productivity","tag-resources","tag-routines"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7p82c-r2","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1677,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions\/1677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}