You may have heard of something called a gratitude practice. Sounds super crunchy, right? It’s really something all of us should be doing, even if we don’t own any yoga pants or have a favorite kale chip recipe.
A gratitude practice is pretty much what it sounds like: Practicing to recognize what you’re grateful for in your life.
Now it doesn’t always have to be stuff that rocks your world, like a new job, a baby, or walking away from a horrific car accident without a scratch on you. It can be anything from your health and your friends to a chocolate chip cookie. And boy are we grateful for chocolate chip cookies.
So, why is this a thing? Still sounds like a crunchy person thing.
Well, it’s pretty simple. The more you recognize what you’re grateful for in life, the happier you are. Negativity grows and festers inside you. It spreads like a virus to everyone around you and eventually leads to less happiness all around you. We’re not even exaggerating. That’s literally what happens.
But recognizing gratitude often, like every day, can lead to happy, wonderful things, like better sleep, better relationships, better physical health, better psychological health, better self-esteem, better, better, better. You get the picture.
There aren’t many rules to starting a gratitude practice. It’s much easier than let’s say, starting a law practice or a medical practice. You could write down one thing you’re grateful for each day and keep the slips in a big jar. You could simply say what you’re grateful for out loud or write things down in a journal. You can even form a club where you share weekly or monthly things you’re grateful for with friends. (Combine it with wine club just to make things easier. And then you can express your gratitude for wine club.)
Give it a try for a few weeks and see how it goes. You might just surprise yourself. Oh, and there are thousands of sites online that can help you get started, too. Here are just a few:
