We’ve all heard it before- “have an attitude of gratitude”. 

But what does that even mean? Sure, we are thankful when there’s a roof over our head or when things are going our way. But when things are not ideal how do we stay in place of gratitude?

Gratitude is about so much more than being grateful for monetary items or when things go our way. Gratitude is about thanking the Universe, God, Spirit, whatever your higher power is, every single day for the little things as well the big things.

When we start paying attention to what is working in our lives, and what we are grateful for, we bring on more of that. 

So how can we start bringing in more gratitude into her life?

For one thing, think about what you’re most thankful for. Think about all the little things that you appreciate about your life. Start with the fact you’re breathing, you have a roof over your head, and go on from there. Sometimes it’s helpful to think of things that we’re not happy about and then put a positive spin on them so that we can be grateful for them. For example, if you don’t like your living situation,  push yourself to find one thing that you are grateful for. ame goes for your spouse. Let’s say your spouse is driving you absolutely nuts. What do you actually love about them? If you put the focus there could you actually find something to be grateful for? The more you practice, the easier it becomes.

Think about a time in your life that you were so upset you never thought you would get through it. Things went really bad and didn’t turn out anywhere near the way you were planning and you were left upset, disappointed and confused. Why was this happening to you? You have no idea how you were going to get through it, but you did. When things are going really hard and we have no idea why things are happening the way that they are it’s helpful to sometimes look back on another hard time that we had and think about how we got through that time. And how much better now we are than back then. It makes us realize that there’s a bigger plan for us then we are able to make ourselves. And then we have to just sit back, trust life and be grateful for every day that we’re still here.

I think once you start a gratitude practice on a daily basis it becomes something that you automatically incorporate. Here’s some ways that you can start to add gratitude to your daily life as a little bit of a daily habit and then it won’t become so hard for you anymore.

Here are some ways to help incorporate gratitude into your daily life

Start a gratitude journal and enter a reason why you’re grateful every day

Set an alarm on your phone at the same time every day that says ‘gratitude’ and when it goes off you just think of a few things that you’re grateful for.

Download the app-  “Five-Minute Journal: an app focused on gratitude that will send you an alarm and you use  it  just like a Journal but it is saved on your phone so it might be a little more convenient for you.

Practice gratitude meditation.  There are lots of guided meditations that you can find on gratitude online! Google it, and find one that speaks to you!

Make a gratitude calendar. You  just write something every single day and then you can go back and reflect on it and have it more of a visual than a journal.

Buy a set of Post-it’s and write something you’re grateful for and then you can leave them all over the place for you and see what you’re grateful for all day. What a nice surprise!

Start a gratitude jar. Every day write a note with something you’re grateful for and throw it in the jar. Then when you’re feeling down you can go take a note out and feel a sense of joy.

Hope this helps you all find more gratitude and helps you practice it in your daily life.