I do not know about you but I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone by. I feel that every year I get older time seems to pass by faster and faster – could it be that life just gets busier and busier? Very possible. Now that we are entering the holiday season we get a chance spend more quality time with friends and family which also gives us time to wind down and reflect on our year – the good times and the bad. It seems that sometimes we tend dwell on the bad times because it is hard not to but we need to train ourselves to always look on the bright side of things. One of the ways we can train ourselves to look at the positive side is to learn how to regularly express gratitude for the good things and good people in our lives. Showing gratitude comes from within and it is a fundamental way to feel at peace with yourself and also be in a good place to outwardly express that.
journal it
I am sure you have heard of this one before and it is because it works! This is an exercise that takes 2-3 minutes out of your day and it is such an easy way to keep track of the small things that happen in our daily lives that puts a smile on our face. Remember when we used to journal about the good things that happened to us in elementary school and remember how we think back to our childhoods as being one of the happiest in our lives? Yes, journaling the good things works.
stop complaining
We get caught up on the things that annoy us or the things that do not go as planned and when we complain about negatives all we are doing is feeding that negative energy. And we do not want that! So the next time your mind begins to complain about this, that and the other put an end to it right then and there. We know that to every negative there is a positive and even if you have to dig deep to find that positive, find it!
show some respect
Respect for yourself and respect towards others. Respect for yourself can come in the form of how you feed yourself and how you keep your body active – these positive actions you can take for yourself are simple ways of showing gratitude to your body, mind and soul. A good rule of thumb when it comes to respecting others is to treat others the way you want to be treated – and when you respect yourself respecting others becomes that much easier.
praise others
Congratulate someone for a job well done, cheer them on as they reach for their dreams, be a positive role models to those around you. These actions will not only make you feel good but will also provide encouragement to those around you – and who doesn’t like that?!
give back
Last but not least we can show gratitude to our communities by volunteering or time and energy for causes that we hold near and dear to our hearts. This is something we can do all year round but especially during the holiday season we can (and should) make some time to give back to our communities.
smile
Last but not least, always rock a smile on your face – it is contagious! Smiling will instantly lift your mood and spirit and it is not only one of the easiest things to do but you will also find that you will influence others to also smile more often.
How do you show gratitude and appreciation for others? What came naturally to you and what did you have to work on over time?