A Lesson in Gratefulness: How & Why to Teach Yourself to Have a Grateful Heart Mindfulness

One morning I saw a tip on A Woman's Corner and I immediately hit the brakes! I thought, “Wow, this post is talking to me.” My heart was so convicted. The very things on this list are the things I often hear myself complaining about daily.

Boy, did I feel small. Reading the post helped me gain perspective and question as to how and why we should teach ourselves to have a more grateful heart. If your goal is to have a peaceful, joyful, happy and rich life, that will depend a lot on your perspective and your attitude. 

Surprise! It's not about money or things. Teaching yourself to be appreciative and thankful for even the smallest thing, on a daily basis, can have a profound effect on the quality of your life. Every one of us know a person that never has anything positive to say, can never find anything to be thankful for. I see that person’s face right now – grumpy, unpleasant and angry. They are miserable, unhappy and, for the most part, alone. I don't want to be that person or be around that person.

So how can you train your heart and mind to be grateful? Start with the little things. First thing in the morning when you open your eyes, before your feet touch the floor, be thankful! Throughout your day, purposely take a moment to look around at all you have to be thankful for and say out loud, "THANK YOU!" Here are more moments to be thankful for:

• alone time with coffee
• the drive home from work
• a pre-dinner walk

You start to fully realize what you have when you purposely take the time to look around and appreciate it all. If you can get into the habit of doing this daily, it's very humbling. We are not made thankful; we choose, we decide, to be grateful. I recently saw these words which help me put it all into perspective: "It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s thankful people who are happy."

The challenge is on! I have challenged myself for the next 21 days (it has been said it takes 21 days to form a habit, or something like that) to a more grateful attitude and happy heart!

"There is always, always, always something to be thankful for." – Unknown

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