Being thankful and showing those around you gratitude is a healing and fulfilling way to approach living your life. It makes you happy, keeps you balanced, and humble and fills those around you with a sense of worthiness and warmth. Showing gratitude is a simple task-gratitude can be a simple thank you when someone lets you borrow their pen in a science class or the gesture of holding the door open for a mum struggling with her grocery bags. Gratitude is a good tonic for many of the ailments in life; it can help keep you balanced and centered in times of great struggle. Practicing gratitude everyday is good for your heart and your mind. Here are five easy ways that you can show gratitude in your life every day:
Offer a little extra help: Offering help does not have to be a huge exertion. If someone drops something, pick it up. Let them know that they are worthy of help and a little extra attention-no matter how small the action, it is the intention behind it that counts.
Make thank you your favorite phrase: Do you say thank you enough? Think about it. Making thank you a hallmark of your social interactions will make people appreciate you and want to spend time with you because they know they are appreciated.
Praise someone: Give an extra compliment to someone, a coworker or a friend. Let them know that you value what they do, what they say, and above all who they are.
Listen: You can show that you appreciate someone by really listening to what they have to say. Sometimes people just want to know that they are seen and heard, and if you authentically listen to what they have to say, you will boost their self-esteem and self-worth ten-fold.
Replace criticism with gratitude: Did your spouse leave the towel on the bathroom floor again? Did your coworker start chewing his food too loudly during a meeting? Instead of criticizing the habits that annoy you, try to focus on showing gratitude to the people in your life, even when they annoy you the most. You will feel better and more centered if you dwell on the positive instead of the negative.
Gratitude is a major factor in keeping us connected to those around us. As human beings, we are relational and the main purpose in our lives is to keep ourselves connected with those around us, as this facilitates our ability to receive love, safety, and comfort. Showing gratitude is a way of making the people around us feel that they are worthy of love, safety, and comfort. Gratitude is a humble way of nurturing the seeds of human relationships that lead us all to feel better about ourselves and our place in the world.