“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”
—Oprah Winfrey
How can we turn gratitude into a daily habit instead of a once-a-year holiday obligation? By recognizing the abundance, we already have our family, relationships, material things that bring us comfort, and our memories, dreams, and hopes.
Family relationships, connections, and support are things that we can easily take for granted. However, having a family’s love, supporting us in hard times, and cheer us on in the good is a more precious gift than anything we can buy. Family is the rock and foundation of earthly life, and we should take time to see and appreciate the good that family provides.
It would be easy to reflect on all that we have materially and feel guilty. To some degree, these feelings can help guide us to think more about the needs of others. Being thankful for our possessions makes us pause to consider our real needs and have too much.
However, instead of being bogged down in guilt, we can shift our perspective to gratitude and see the good in all we have. We can appreciate the comforts, beauty, and convenience that we have in our lives. If we can understand our material comforts and truly recognize the blessings we have, we can cultivate a thankful attitude.
How can you become more thankful?
- Be Thankful for Family
We counted on them for advice and emotional support, used their physical help, shared happiness and good experiences helped, received service with sickness, and felt the love that has sustained us. These are all things that bring so much good to your life. We should be thankful and see all the good that we have in our family.
- Be Thankful for Comforts
We, as a society, have so much in the way of material comforts. However, instead of being bogged down in guilt, we can shift our perspective to gratitude and see the good in all we have. We can appreciate the comforts, beauty, and convenience that we have in our lives. If we can understand our material comforts and truly recognize the blessings we have, we can cultivate a thankful attitude.
- Be Thankful for Hope
What sustains you and gives you hope? People have different religions and different sources of hope, but we should all find something bigger than ourselves. We should be thankful and see the good in all that we have beyond ourselves.
- Being Thankful Transforms You
Seeing the good in what you have right now can transform you. It can change your daily outlook and increase your happiness. You will find more feelings of satisfaction and likely see your relationships improve because you complain less and appreciate more. Many research studies show that gratitude can improve an individual’s well-being and happiness. A thankful person feels more contentment and joy and does not dwell on negative things.
It is about seeing the good, being grateful, thankful, and appreciative. It is an attitude, a perspective, and a way of life. Seeing the interest is also a choice. Choose to see the good in your everyday life. Be thankful for all that you have.
Act: What makes you feel thankful?
The following prompts will help you to look beyond the obvious into some other things to be thankful for:
- What is something you have today that you did not have a year ago?
- What is a personality trait in yourself?
- What is a possession that makes your life easier?
- What do you like about your job?
- How are you able to help or give to others?
- Which tradition are you thankful for in your life?
- How does your family make your life richer?
- What are five positive memories from the last year?
- What are three good decisions you have promised this year?
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