How to Be Grateful

It is not without reason that many people believe that people who cultivate gratitude are happier and healthier than those who do not. ^{[1] X Research Source} Grateful people appreciate what they have instead of focusing on the lack of aspects. They show gratitude to others and often receive a lot of gratitude in return. They see each day as a new opportunity to embrace happiness instead of a challenge to overcome. While many people have a natural sense of gratitude, don’t assume you can’t cultivate this in your life. This is not easy, but you will be grateful for your effort!

Table of Contents

Be grateful in every moment

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Take a minute to give thanks for life. Sometimes taking a break is an effective way to energize and feel better. You’ll need to identify the things you’re grateful for, and sometimes even taking a break is worth being grateful for.

When you’re at work or school, walk around the building or go outside for a breath of fresh air and silently appreciate the opportunity to rest, relax your legs and feel the sunshine, etc.
Take a moment to notice the little things you’re grateful for, like your morning coffee or the pillow you lay on each night.

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Let someone know that you appreciate them . Often, your busy life makes you forget to tell others how important they are to you or that you appreciate what they do and that means a lot to you. Thanking others cultivates and gradually spreads gratitude. For example:

If your wife prepares lunch for you, call or text to say, “Honey, I know it’s so easy for you to prepare lunch, but I thank you so much for always trying. Help me to keep busy every morning”.

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Talk with your family about gratitude. Set aside a time, such as dinner, to talk about the things that you are grateful for during the day. In addition, each family member should take turns talking about what they were grateful for that day. ^{[2] X Trusted Source HealthyChildren.org Go to Source}

Make it a habit to have each family member take turns sharing and mentioning at least 1 thing to be grateful for before eating.
Try to be as specific as possible. For example, instead of saying “I’m grateful that everyone is here,” you could say, “I’m grateful that everyone helps me take care of my yard every weekend.”

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Send a thank you note. Sending a small thank you note really means a lot. A thank you note shows gratitude when someone gives you something (time, effort, gift) that they don’t have to and you appreciate their work. You do not need to write a long letter to say thank you, just write a few lines to express the meaning of their gift, time, and effort to you.

Texts, emails, and voicemails of thanks are also great to send (and receive), but a handwritten thank you is more than special.
Your thank you note can be just a note with a short message, or you can write your thank you note on a notebook and add a flower or heart.

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Giving back is also a way of giving thanks. Gratitude is not only expressed through words but also through actions to give back to the community and friends. This does not mean that you give back for the sake of fairness so that no one “debts” anyone. Give it away because it is a noble gesture and gives you a good feeling. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

If you know the person, help directly. For example, you could take your grandmother around or help a friend move.
If you don’t know the person, follow up with their nice gesture. For example, you can repay someone who helped you during your college years by supporting other students.

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See the kindness behind what you receive. When someone is kind to you – giving you a gift, delivering a hot meal, volunteering to read and edit your essay – see how they are trying to make a difference in your life. They have not hesitated to spend their precious time and money to be able to do nice things for you. ^{[4] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source}

This recognition helps to nurture and spread gratitude through your actions and words, especially when you have children. ^{[5] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source}

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Say “thank you” often. Thank you the coffee shopkeeper, thank you the doorman, thank the customer service agent for helping you figure out what caused your phone not to work. Saying thank you can help you feel a deep sense of gratitude for life. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Say “thank you” as a prayer or mantra. You can thank specific things, or repeat the thank you over and over to yourself. For example, you could thank the breakfast this morning, the rain that watered the trees, the raincoat that kept you from getting wet, etc.
By cultivating gratitude (and by expressing it in words), you can alleviate anger, anxiety, depression, and other health problems.
When you say thank you to someone, look them in the eye and smile so they can feel the sincerity.

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Think of reasons to be grateful, even during difficult times. Sometimes it’s hard to feel grateful for life. However, it is an important time to cultivate gratitude, as it makes it easier to overcome difficulties than to get angry or disgruntled. ^{[7] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source}

To cultivate gratitude for hard or boring work, you can list the good things about the job: it gives you money to buy food and a place to live, it gives you opportunities to catch the bus into the city and catch the early sunshine, etc.
With issues like a breakup or the loss of a loved one, it’s a good idea to give yourself time to grieve and feel your sadness. Being grateful does not mean that you will deny emotions such as sadness, anger, etc.; but it simply helps you ease those feelings. After the grieving period, list the things that the relationship taught you and made you grateful, as well as the things you were grateful for when the relationship ended.

Develop the habit of gratitude

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Write a gratitude journal. Make a note of why you are grateful every day to engrave it in your mind. No matter how difficult your life is right now, there are things you want to be grateful for. Finding these things will help you cope with other parts of your life. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Write down 5 things that you are grateful for every day. It can be simple things like “morning sunshine”, or big things like “receiving a marriage proposal”.
Take a little time each day to reflect on the things for which you are most grateful. You will realize you have more than 5 things to be grateful for.
If you need a reminder, get a gratitude journal app for your phone to get a daily notification.

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Review your gratitude journal as needed. Whenever you’re going through a tough time, it can be very helpful to review what you’ve written before. If you’re having a hard time, try being grateful for the little things. ^{[9] X Research Source}

For example, even if you have a terminal illness, you can be grateful for things like having someone to cook for you, a warm bed, or when your cat is around. These little things can make the pain of illness so much easier.

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Find teammates on the gratitude journey. Share your goal of cultivating gratitude with a close friend or loved one and ask for their help. Choose someone who makes you feel comfortable talking about the things you’re grateful for. Besides, they are also the ones who sympathize with you when you slip into the habit of complaining.

Preferably, things should be two-way – meaning that everyone helps each other to become deeply grateful. ^{[10] X Research Source}

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Change your perspective on problems. The life of those who are grateful for what they have is no easier than yours. In fact, the people who are deeply grateful are the ones who have been through a lot of hardship, but they understand that it’s not the situation that matters, it’s the way you think about the situation that makes it easy. more or more difficult. ^{[11] X Research Source}

For example, if you have to work part-time to pay for college, think about the responsibility lesson your job has taught you instead of regretting that you don’t have time to spare.

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Use appropriate words to describe your life. Using negative language and “labeling” can make a situation more difficult and make it harder to express gratitude. For example, labeling “my terrible disease” creates a more negative view than simply saying “the illness I have”. In the second example, you are not making the illness “private property” but you are using neutral instead of negative language. ^{[12] X Trusted Source Mayo Clinic Go to Source}

Express gratitude with words that you would use to describe your life. For example, you could say, “Even though I have this disease, I’m grateful for the wonderful treatment and support my family has given me.”

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Have a positive view of yourself and others. Hating yourself and others will make it hard for you to truly feel grateful. When you catch yourself thinking negatively about yourself and others, stop and switch your thoughts. For example, if you think, “I’m so bad at math,” tell yourself, “I’m just having a little trouble solving this problem.” ^{[13] X Trusted Source Mayo Clinic Go to Source}

A small change in wording and perspective will turn the situation so that the problem is not directed at you, which means that there is no longer any connection between you and the problem. That way, the problem becomes something you can overcome.

Cultivate gratitude from mental and physical health

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Choose a healthy diet . You need to feed your body with foods that make you positive and make it easy to feel grateful. Choose vegetables like kale, red bell peppers and bananas; Healthy carbohydrates from brown rice, whole grains, oats and protein from salmon, seeds, lean meats, eggs.

Moderation and variety are really important. Your diet should not only consist of fruits and vegetables, you also need good protein and carbohydrates.
Try to reduce refined sugar and salt as much as possible.

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Hydrate your body by drinking plenty of water. Water is an essential part of keeping every part of your body and mind working properly. Take frequent sips of water and drink before you feel thirsty.

Be grateful every time you can turn on the faucet or open the water bottle and have clean water to drink. Remember that millions (perhaps billions) of people around the world do not yet have this luxury.

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Don’t cut your sleep time . Sleep is an important part of keeping you healthy and happy — two things that make it easy to feel grateful. Sure, you’ll find it hard to be grateful when you’re anxious to sleep, but getting enough sleep can make it easier to cultivate gratitude.

Make it a habit to go to bed and wake up at the same time, create a comfortable space for sleep, relax, and turn off all electronic devices before bed.

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Follow a regular exercise routine . Regular exercise releases happy hormones like endorphins, which help regulate your mood and make you feel better. Feeling positive is both a reason to be grateful and a motivator to practice gratitude.

Try to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day. It can be ordinary activities like jogging, dancing to music or doing yoga.

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Meditate regularly. Meditation is another effective way to deal with mental health issues and feelings of depression in life. This is also a way to help you solidify and practice gratitude.

Find somewhere quiet and meditate for at least 15 minutes a day. Just sit in a comfortable position, breathe deeply, and focus on your breath. When petty thoughts grab your attention, take them in and let them fade away with each exhale.

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Practice mindfulness . By being present, you make it difficult for your brain to race with thoughts and worries about future plans or dwelling on the past. This is a way to practice gratitude because you are fully present in the present and thereby express gratitude for “reality”.

Practice mindfulness while eating. Focus on the food you’re putting in your mouth: Is it hot or cold? How’s the texture? Sweet or sour or salty?
Try this when you go for a walk, or simply sit outside. You will notice the color of the sky and the shape of the clouds. Feel the scent with your nose, and listen to the wind whispering in the trees.

Advice

Remember that sometimes you will have bad days that make you grumpy and hate everything. That is completely normal. Don’t blame yourself because you haven’t lived in gratitude often. This is the goal that many people are aiming for.
Cultivating gratitude cannot help you avoid bad things or stay unaffected by what happens to you. Gratitude just makes it easier to face things and doesn’t hurt your mental health.
You can’t always control what happens to you, but you can learn to control your reaction to things.
Thanking others from time to time for the little things they do for you will help them feel appreciated. Even small gratitude can make someone happy throughout the day and also make you feel better.

Steps

Be grateful in every moment

Develop the habit of gratitude

Cultivate gratitude from mental and physical health

Advice

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