Gratitude is a practice...from "The Naked Mind" newsletter:
"The practice of gratitude is so transformative. I’ve seen the impact it has had on my life and the lives of thousands of others as well.
Practicing gratitude is easy to do when everything is going right in our lives. However, when things go pear-shaped it can be difficult to find anything to be grateful for. Yet those times are when we most need to practice gratitude.
During hard times seeing all of the negatives around us is natural. When we're consumed by grief, anxiety, depression, and the other emotions that accompany hard times finding the silver lining just doesn’t seem important.
Gratitude isn’t about that though. Gratitude is really about awareness. It’s tuning into yourself and finding things to be thankful for while accepting that everything else in life is tumultuous and chaotic.
Practicing gratitude and feeling grateful are two separate and distinct things. Even when you don’t FEEL grateful, try to be observant and find just three things you appreciate that day. This simple daily exercise continues to reshape your mindset and attitude towards making gratitude your default response.
Last week I touched on how gratitude allowed me to find the positive even when faced with adversity. Every challenging event in my life has brought changes that I have nothing but gratitude for now. In these times even expressing the hope that something good will emerge from this situation is a practice of gratitude.
Life is a roller coaster and sometimes we find we’re on the downhill portion. In those times we can commit to curiosity. Look for seeds of positivity that may be scattered among the difficulties. Have you learned from the experience? Did you find a new appreciation for things you previously took for granted?
Gratitude isn’t always big grand gestures. Sometimes it’s finding something small to hold on to that sustains us until life restores itself to order again."
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