Summary: Find out how you can be happy by following these 5 easy steps.
Sometimes having a good cry or spending one day wallowing can be good for you to feel your emotions and let them out. However, if you find yourself feeling frustrated and down about your circumstances more often than not, focusing on gratitude can do a world of good for your mood. When we take the time to stop thinking about everything we don’t have or everything that’s going wrong in our lives and start to think about all the good things in our lives our moods can shift.
When it comes to being grateful, most people start with the obvious, such as family, friends, health, and a place to live. Yes, these are all huge blessings to many of us. However, if you want this practice to last, you have to really think about all the little things, such as the friendly security guard in your building, the way your spouse makes your favorite meal once a week, or even the fresh air as you take your dog on a walk in the morning.
When it comes to something like focusing on what you’re grateful for, many of us do it once or twice and then forget to continue each day. To avoid going right back to where you started, here are five suggestions to help you create and maintain a focus on gratitude.
Step 1: Commit to focusing on gratitude for a certain amount of time. Whether you want to challenge yourself for just once a week, or every day for two weeks, make a commitment to yourself.
Step 2: Just do it. You’re going to feel resistant. You’re going to want to avoid practicing gratitude. Just like doing the dishes, once you get started you’ll be glad you did. So just do it.
Step 3: Write it down. Grab a journal or even use the notes app on your phone and write down what you’re grateful for. Also, this helps to keep you from repeating the same things every day – try to do new things every day that you’re grateful for and get specific.
Step 4: Get a buddy. When it comes to committing to adding in a new habit it can be hard to keep up, so ask a friend to do this along with you and just check in with one another each day to make sure you’ve both made your lists. Consider sharing your list if you feel like he or she would be open, receptive, and supportive.
Step 5: Keep going. Once you create this habit, keep your gratitude practice going. If you do it for a while and then stop, you’ll notice it makes a big difference in your day-to-day mood.