Finding Gratitude

3 strategies to experience more happiness in our everyday life.

Finding gratefulness is a very powerful practice, but it only works if we truly do feel grateful. Why is it powerful? Because it 'rewires' our brains to think positive thoughts and to begin to notice the good things that surround us. This can be very transformational. The more we notice good things..the more good things seem to flow into our lives.

I used to find it hard to feel grateful, especially when times were tough and I didn't feel particularly happy with my life. I used to get quite frustrated when I was prompted to 'find gratitude in my everyday life. How could I possibly feel grateful when all I could see around me was a bleak picture of happiness?

I took the resolution to give myself time to meditate on it, to see if I could find some inspiration. I realised my feelings were very much linked to my continuous focus on what I perceived to be negative aspects of my life. So I decided to challenge myself to think differently and to find ways to change, let's say, perspective.

Here are 3 strategies that helped me to find gratefulness and therefore more Happiness

Strategy n.1 - Change the Focus

I decided to change focus. Whenever I caught myself thinking about anything negative, I actively choose a different thought. Any thought, but one that felt better. I would think about my dog, a funny scene in my favourite movie, or anything else! The key here is to bring our minds to change the focus. It doesn't matter what we change the focus to, all that matters is that the new thought we choose feels better than the one before.

Strategy n.2 - Smell the Roses

I decided to 'stop and smell the roses. When out with my beautiful pooch, with my partner, or on my own, I took the time to notice my surroundings and appreciate them. The colour of a leaf, the shape of a tree...anything that I found pleasing. The exercise here is to move our attention from one pleasing 'object' to the next, without paying any attention to any negative aspect or detail.

Strategy n.3 - Reflect on the Positives

I took some time to reflect on the positives. In the evening, I spent time thinking back about my day and going through all the things that...went right instead of those that went wrong! Like finding parking just outside the shops. The key here is to begin to think differently about our days, and change the 'negativity first' type of perspective that is often ingrained in us.

More Gratitude equals more Happiness

So these are 3 Strategies that I found very useful to experience gratitude and therefore more happiness. These strategies are all designed to 'rewire' our brain, to change the loop of negativity and to begin to think from a different perspective. I found that however unhappy, frustrated or dissatisfied I felt, these 'exercises' helped me to break the loop. They helped me to experience gratitude and, most importantly how transformative this feeling is.

As I focussed more and more on the positives, suddenly, all the aspects of my life that felt negative or challenging felt less 'daunting'. Changing perspective literally changed my entire world. I began to find creative solutions to my 'problems', as I witnessed more and more positivity flowing into my life.

This taps into the Law of Attraction...but I won't go into this as this is a whole other subject. This, however, will be covered on Creating Happiness...a podcast I am producing with The amazing Sheela Hagan! Creating Happiness is all about how to create more happiness and freedom and will go live this March. You can find out more here!