How Gratitude Will Change Your Life and Four Easy Ways to Practice it

Ayurveda tells us that everything we do affects our health and well-being. You are what you eat, you are what you do, and you are what you think. And modern science is just now beginning to prove what Ayurveda has been telling us for the past 5,000 years.
In one recent study, participants were asked to keep a journal during the week.  One group wrote about things that they were grateful for, another wrote about daily irritations and a third group wrote about anything they wanted.  The group that focused on what they were grateful for were far more optimistic, happier and felt better about their lives.  They had fewer health problems and fewer visits to the doctor. 

Do you want to feel better?  Be happier?  Joyful even?  Start practicing gratitude.  It’s easy, it’s free, and it’s good for you and for everyone around you.  It is magical.

Here are some ways you can turn a mundane life into a miraculous life:

-Practice being mindful of what is right in front of you and look for the good in it.  Count your blessings; you are surrounded by them.  "the present moment is filled with joy and happiness.  If you are attentive, you will see it."  -Thich Nhat Hanh

- Thank someone either by writing a note, say something out loud or by even thanking them mentally.  Try it.  Use sticky notes and be the compliment fairy at work or at home.  You don’t even have to sign your name.

- Use gratitude to change your attitude.  For instance, imagine being at the grocery store in a long line, the cashier is frazzled and grumpy. Ugh, right?  Well, this is where you have a choice.  This is where you have the power to change everything!  You can choose to be irritated and scowl at the cashier, or snap at him for keeping you waiting for so long.  How does that work for you?  Did that make you feel better??

OR, you can take a deep breath, smile, and compliment the cashier, comment on how crazy it is or thank him for taking care of you.  Compliment them on their hair, or shirt or whatever you can think of.  It will change the ‘enemy’ into a friend.  Even if it does not seem to affect the cashier on the outside, it will on the inside.  It will change how you feel, and maybe even how the other shoppers feel.  Gratitude is contagious.  Take the moment to be mindful, and practice compassion and kindness to this overwhelmed human being in front of you.  Try it and see how YOUR action and attitude will change everything.

-I know, I know, you have heard it so many times.  Keep a gratitude journal.  Write down the gifts you receive each day.  A smile, an acknowledgement, a nudge from your cat, clean clothes to wear, actually just having clothes to wear.  Looking at the grocery store scenario, you could feel grateful that there is a grocery store, that you are healthy enough to be there, that you have the money to buy the food you need, or even to buy extra for someone who doesn’t have enough.  You can be grateful that there is food to buy!  Or that the store is cool or heated.  The list could go on and on. Get the idea?
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Practice Gratitude.  You will feel better, look better, think better, fight disease better, have more energy, sleep better, live longer, love better, be loved more and help others around you just by practicing. It is catchy too.  Once you start practicing, eventually it will become a habit.  Then you will smile just thinking about the ground beneath your feet.