From pandemics to ecological disasters, 2020 has been a hard year. People have lost jobs, houses, and loved ones, and mental health problems are higher than ever. Yet despite all the ugliness, now is a great opportunity to appreciate everything good.
As Thanksgiving rolls around each year, many people take stock of everything going on in their lives and all they have to be thankful for. But why not try and incorporate daily gratitude practice throughout other parts of the year, as well?
Keep reading to learn about ten different ways that you can practice gratitude throughout the year.
1. Keep a Journal
One of the best ways to feel grateful is to journal every day. Set aside some time in the evening to write down all of the good things that happened. If you need to, you can then look back at these entries when you need a pick-me-up.
The things that you write down can be simple and ordinary. The important thing is that they make you happy, and help you appreciate everything that you have.
If you need some help getting the creative juices flowing, check out this site’s gratitude journal ideas.
2. Acknowledge the Hard Times
No matter how perfect someone’s life seems, remember that everyone goes through periods of struggle and adversity. Yet instead of letting these opportunities knock you down, acknowledge them and use them to help you grow.
If you ever struggle with feeling grateful, remember a hard time that you persevered through. This helps you be more appreciative of the present, and also helps you power through any difficult times in the future.
3. Appreciate the Small Things
Many people make the mistake of only looking for huge things to feel grateful about. However, make a point to expand your perspective and look at everything around you.
Something as simple as watching a beautiful sunset disappear over the horizon can be all you need to appreciate your place in the world and everything you have.
4. Practice Mindfulness
Strip away the institutions around us, and in our simplest form, human beings are animals. We are living and breathing creatures composed of cells and organs, and are just a speck in a limitless ocean.
If you ever struggle with practicing gratitude, take some time to appreciate the miracle that is life. Use your senses as a lens of gratitude to remember all that it means to be human.
5. Find Ways to Help Others
One of the best ways to feel gratitude is to invest energy in giving back to others. Volunteering helps you appreciate all that you have, while doing good in your community.
Studies have also shown that helping others is the best way to improve your own well-being. It’s a fact that helping other people helps you in the process.
6. Express Your Gratitude
While feeling grateful is important, you can often do more with those feelings. Make a point to express your feelings to those around you. In the process, you’ll brighten their day, as well as your own.
Whether you write a letter, make a phone call, or tell them in person, telling someone that you care about them is one of the best ways to show your gratitude.
7. Strive for Happiness
It’s hard to feel grateful if you feel miserable at the same time. Although it can be a challenge, try your best to be happy. This will make it easier to appreciate everything good in your life.
Try exercising or doing a hobby that you like to get the endorphins flowing. You’ll then find it easier to be grateful, and will be able to write endless numbers of lists of things that bring you joy.
8. Be Around People You Care About
If there’s ever anything going wrong in your life, the best way to get through it is by being around friends and family. With regards to gratitude, this also gives you the chance to act on your feels of thankfulness.
If you can’t find ways to support your family and friends, don’t be afraid to start small. Listening intently when they speak and helping them with simple tasks can be a good starting block.
9. Learn About Other People’s Struggles
Many people feel that they’ve been dealt a bad hand at certain times, but remember that there’s always someone who has it worse. Give yourself some perspective by learning about the struggles that other people go through.
Look across the world at the work different human rights groups are undertaking. The people these groups seek to help often endure unimaginable things. Educate yourself about their struggles to get perspective, then look for different ways to help.
10. Write a Gratitude Vow
One of the best ways to commit to making a change is by getting it out of your brain and into the world. Writing a gratitude vow is the perfect way to do that.
Think about how you want to be more grateful, then write that down. This can be as simple as “I vow to be more grateful for my family”, or “I vow to count every blessing that comes my way”.
Once you finish writing your gratitude vow, put it somewhere where you’ll see it every day. This can be on a fridge, a desk, or taped to a door.
Never Stop Searching for How to Practice Gratitude
Although Thanksgiving is around the corner, you don’t need a holiday to practice gratitude. By trying out some of these ways to practice gratitude, you’ll be able to remember everything good you have, no matter how ugly a particular time is.
Do you now have a better idea of how to practice gratitude? If you do, take a moment to check out some of our other articles for more guides and tips.
