The Power of Gratitude: How Practicing Gratitude Enriches Your Life and Tips for Getting Started

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Practicing gratitude is a simple and powerful means to enhance your wellbeing and happiness, regardless of your circumstances

—

Expressing gratitude is at the top of nearly every self-help and happiness authors’ lists of practices for wellbeing. One of the most powerful habits you can develop is to be grateful and express your gratitude. If you’re like me, you might often find yourself regretting you didn’t tell someone you appreciated something they did on your behalf. If you want to be the best version of yourself, start cultivating a grateful mindset.

The Benefits of Gratitude

There are many research-based benefits of practicing gratitude:

1. Boosts happiness
2. Enhances life satisfaction
3. Increases positive emotions
4. Fosters kindness
5. Promotes altruistic behavior
6. Strengthens relationships
7. Heightens feelings of connectedness
8. Improves sleep quality
9. Tempers negativity
10. Reduces stress
11. Lessens anxiety
12. Decreases depression

A recent study identified that of our many positive character traits, gratitude is the single best predictor of emotional wellbeing and quality relationships.

Intentionally acknowledging things you are grateful for not only leads to experiencing more positive emotions but also longer-lasting positive emotions because it increases serotonin and dopamine. When you note things you are grateful for, it shifts your focus and energy to the positive aspects of your life.

Feeling and expressing gratitude is also a potent antidote to negative emotions. Not only does expressing gratitude decrease anxiety and depression, it can act as a buffer against stress and negativity. David Hamilton in his book, Why Kindness is Good For You, reports that gratitude can make you as much as 25 percent happier.

Ways to Practice Gratitude

Gratitude only boosts your happiness and wellbeing if you turn it into a conscious and regular practice. Gratitude needs to be practiced deliberately and consistently to take hold. Research shows that only 52 percent of women and 44 percent of men express gratitude to others on a regular basis.

To reap all the benefits, you have to be persistent about counting your blessings and expressing your gratitude. If you want to bring more happiness into your life, add a few practices to your daily routine.

Being grateful has three components:

1. First comes the noticing, just being aware of all those little things that can so easily go unnoticed.
2. Next you need to actually experience the feeling of appreciation.
3. Then you have to express your gratitude in thoughts, words, and deeds.

Gratitude practices are uncomplicated, easy to implement and quick to complete, yet they can have a significant impact. Some simple and evidenced-based practices include:

• Counting your blessings
• Reflecting on the good that comes your way
• Writing letters and notes of thanks
• Keeping a gratitude journal
• Setting a gratitude ritual or intention

When you count your blessings, it primes you to notice the things in your life that are going right rather than wrong, where our attention frequently wants to go. By listing the things you are grateful for, it helps you realize that there are plenty of good things about your life. When you become more attuned to life’s little blessings you can engage in them more fully, both in the moment, and later when reminiscing or sharing these experiences.

Writing letters and sending notes of thanks not only brings joy to the receiver, it makes you feel happy. Try writing a letter to someone who has been kind to you, but whom you have never thanked, explaining why you feel grateful for what he or she did or said.  

Keeping a gratitude journal is one of the most effective ways to practice gratitude, but it’s not for everyone. If you’re not quite ready to embark on journaling your feelings but want to get started with a gratitude practice, an easy way is to establish a simple daily ritual. Your last waking moments are an ideal time.

Establish a Nightly Gratitude Ritual

Doing a nightly gratitude ritual will help you offset any accumulated negativity — and help you get a better sleep. Here are some to try.

• Each night before bed try to think of something new you are grateful for that you’ve never given thanks for before.
• At the end of your day make a mental list of everything that went right today.
• Compile an “I did it” list at the end of the day instead of the usual “to do” list and appreciate yourself for all you do in a day.
• Recount your day by remembering all the little acts of kindness anyone did for you and feel grateful for the kindnesses you received.
• Mentally scan your day and identify the one accomplishment you are most proud of and be grateful you were able to get it done.

Set a Daily Gratitude Intention

Another simple practice is setting an intention for the day. When you set an intentions it kindles an awareness you carry with you from morning to evening. Setting a daily intention is a way to purposefully cultivate being grateful. Here are some examples.

• Designate a “gratitude day” where you try to notice every little  thing you can be appreciative of, including telling others what you appreciate about them.
• For a day, tell others what you appreciate about them.
• Choose one person to be the object of your gratitude practice for the day.
• Spend a day expressing gratitude for any small thing someone does to make your day a little sweeter.
• Pick a day to include some expression of gratitude in the emails or texts (or both) which you initiate.

---

You may also enjoy reading Morning and Evening Rituals to Enhance Mindfulness & Positivity, by Barbara Bloom.