The Power Of Gratitude

Several years ago my son Jared taught me about the power of gratitude.  He informed me that he had begun maintaining a daily gratitude journal.

When he awoke each morning, he would write down three things in his life for which he was grateful.  Before he closed his eyes at night, he would list three specific things that happened that day for which he was grateful.

Based on Jared’s urging, I started reading about the power of gratitude.  I learned that when we express gratitude and feel gratitude on a consistent basis, we experience amazing physical, psychological and emotional benefits.  Our brains and bodies react in strong and beneficial ways.

I started keeping my own gratitude journal.  When I picked up my journal every morning before I got out of bed, I wrote with energy and positivity.  It set me up for my day.  When I wrote in my journal at night, right before I turned off my light, I went to sleep with a smile on my face and a sense of calm.  Moreover, I actually found myself sleeping better!

Lately, I have resumed keeping my gratitude journal.  I am discovering the same benefits I experienced the first time around.

Then, lo and behold, I received an email from my friend Shari Foos, the founder of the Narrative Method who runs amazing groups that bring people together to share their stories.

To get on the mailing list and sign up for free Zoom-ins, go to TheNarrtiveMethod.org. The Narrative Method is based in Los Angeles, but people Zoom in from across the country.  I have included Shari’s latest blog post below.

Please read it and reflect.

“Every single day, you are surrounded by life and death, cruelty and kindness, violence and beauty. Whether directly or indirectly, global and local events touch you and your emotions. In our unpredictable lives, gratitude can feel inaccessible at times, but finding thanks is a matter of where you place your focus.

Hope and gratitude don’t have to change the facts or how you understand them. It’s not about finding a silver lining or lesson. Finding gratitude is just about expanding the way you look at something.

Making gratitude your daily practice gives you greater awareness of the beauty that surrounds you. It’s like creating a mental carpool lane for yourself that remains open for through traffic.

I’m not suggesting that you will always find immediate relief or easy gratitude. But it is crucial to understand that looking at the things that bother you through an open lens of gratitude can change your life. When you stay close to your humanity and awareness of the close calls in your life, big and small, you begin to look at things differently without even having to try.

As one of the 12 Core Concepts of The Narrative Method, radical gratitude means choosing to live in a state of awareness of the beauty and infinite gifts that abound. It’s hard not to feel fortunate when you acknowledge love, life’s infinite marvels, and the close calls that you survive.”
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Please make time to think about your own thoughts and practices surrounding gratitude.

Are they where you want them to be?
What can you do proactively to enhance your expressing and feeling gratitude?

Please share your ideas with me so that I may learn from you.