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Gratitude: The Quickest Way to Boost your Mood

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When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and the joy of living. If you find no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself – Tecumseh, Shawnee Native American Leader

One of the quickest ways to welcome more happiness and optimism into your life is to practice gratitude. Gratitude is a feeling we experience by noticing, and being thankful for, the blessings in our life. It can greatly transform our overall feelings of well-being. People who regularly practice gratitude experience better physical and mental health. We cannot experience negative emotion if we are feeling thankful. Gratitude is accompanied by feelings of peace and joy; it has the potential to change our thoughts from lack to abundance.

Anyone can adopt a practice of gratitude. At first it may feel uncomfortable, even insincere, but overtime it becomes easier and much more natural. What we focus on expands, and when we choose to notice our blessings we find more things to be thankful for. You can instantly experience more gratitude in this moment by appreciating the simple things that so many of us take for granted. Appreciate the fresh water that you drink, the warmth of the sun, the air that you breathe. Notice small acts of kindness, like someone holding the door for you, or buying your morning coffee. Practice looking people in the eye and genuinely saying “thank you”. Be specific in your praise. Something as simple as saying to a waitress “thank you for your great service” will help boost their mood as well as your own. Take note of how the feeling of gratitude affects your body. Where do you feel gratitude? What thoughts strongly evoke feelings of gratitude? Practice these thoughts often.

Beginning and ending your day with a gratitude practice will evoke feelings of peace and joy. In the morning, before you get out of bed, take time to be grateful for the day ahead. Be thankful for the fun day at work, or the interesting conversation with a friend. Saying thank you in advance helps to set a positive tone for the day. So often people dread getting out of bed because they are worried about the things that might go wrong throughout the day; instead, practice being grateful for things going smoothly. At the end of each day, when you are lying in bed, think of the best thing that happened that day and say “thank you”. Often times people use the time before bed to reflect on what went wrong throughout their day; what someone said to offend them, how they were disrespected, lied too, etc. Or people spend the time mentally preparing a to-do list for tomorrow. Using this time to reflect on what you are grateful for will help you fall asleep in a positive state of mind.

Gratitude is a way of approaching life. It is a choice we make to focus on the good in each day. Post a list of blessings in your room, and choose to look at it often. Carry a list of blessings in your purse or pocket and look at it when you are feeling down. When we are thankful for what we have, we make room for more good things to come into our experience.

30,000 Feet of Perspective

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Fotolia_29594769_Subscription_XLIt had been a lovely Mother’s Day.  The May weather was gorgeous sunny and yet still cool enough to enjoy.  A promising reminder that Spring is finally here.  I had enjoyed church with my family and then a delicious brunch buffet in our small rural Iowa town.  The only problem was it was too short. I had to excuse myself from brunch early to catch a flight.  On the long drive to the airport I was muttering under my breath about what a royal jerk that man is to schedule our conference that we were literally required to fly in the Sunday night of Mother’s Day.  Who does that?  Doesn’t he have a mother?  I was upset for me and my boys to have the special day cut short and to give up special Sunday time for my job.

To top it all off it was a stormy night predicted.  I am not a huge fan of flying. The flight from Chicago to DC started off smoothly, but as we drew closer to DC the lightning started and the wind began throwing the small plane around.  We experienced quite a few ‘joy stick’ drops where it feels like the pilot jerked the control stick down sharply on purpose as we fall what must be thousands of feet through an air pocket. To this day it is still probably the scariest flight I have ever been on.  As the weather intensifies every person around me seems to have a different reaction. Some seem attempting to ignore it, a few people appear to be reading although I can’t imagine how with all those bumps.  A mom holding her child on her lap, an attempt to soothe herself it appears as much as to calm the little boy.

From directly behind me I start to hear sobbing out loud from a woman.  She is sobbing loudly and reciting the Our Father prayer at the same time.  Just over and over, sobbing and repeating the prayer.  Well, I guess maybe I should be more scared than I am at this point! This is visibly upsetting to those around us that can hear her fear shared right out loud.  I silently wish she would stop that.  It is certainly not helping the situation. It is adding to the atmosphere of fear, making it all seem more surreal and as if something bad really is about to happen.  As I feel my own tension rise wondering if it is worse than I think, the large air drops continue as the weather throws us around. As I wonder if we might not make it I hear something quite unexpected break the thick tension.

“Wheee!!!!!  Whooo Hoooo!!!!!   Wheeee!!!!! Do it again!!!!” from a little girl voice.

This is followed by her mom saying “Sush….be quiet darling, people are uneasy honey.”

“Wheee!!!!!  Whooo Hoooo!!!!!   Wheeee!!!!! Do it again!!!! she repeats, doing as little girls will do, ignoring their parents.

I can’t help myself but laugh right straight out loud.

How beautiful a lesson here before us.  We’ve got one woman trying to pray her way out of a certain early death and one row over in the same exact set of circumstances is a child showing complete and utter joy that she literally cannot bear to contain.  She is enjoying the thrilling ride of her life that she doesn’t want to ever stop. Two different people. Same exact circumstances. What a perfect example of how much your perspective matters. Yes, the little girl is absent of the wise adult knowledge of knowing how bad the result could be. But what good does that knowledge do us if we use for negativity? Both the woman and the little girl are going to have contact with other people once they exit the plane. Which one will spread joy and bring smiles? Which one will bring dread and fear?  Both are affecting others on the plane right now in two very opposite ways.

Makes me think about my own perspective. Am I a woman who had her Mother’s Day unfairly cut short or am I simply a very blessed woman to have the opportunity to even be a mother and spend time with those I love most? Am I a woman robbed of my Sunday by some crappy job requirement, or am I a woman proud and happy of my career that has blessed me and my family with many opportunities? Am I going to spread negativity or joy?

What is your perspective doing to you and those around you?  If you are experiencing negativity and blaming your circumstances take another look. Is the filter you are viewing through flawed? How could you look at the situation differently to use it to bring more grace and love to yourself and others?

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.  ~Abraham Lincoln

 

 

 

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