This means the desire to be sincerely and eternally grateful is
the desire to be a successful and wealthy individual in life.
You might want to ask yourself, how then do I develop a grateful
mindset?
Developing a sense of gratitude is not difficult or complicated.
There are no special tools or training required. And the more you practice it,
the better you will become and the more grateful you will be. But,
before we get started.
What Exactly Is Gratitude?
Gratitude is a positive emotion that involves being thankful and
appreciative, and it has been linked to a number of mental and physical health
benefits. You feel grateful for something or someone in your life and respond
with feelings of kindness, warmth, and other forms of generosity when you
experience gratitude.
This is the feeling that comes when you decide to think or focus
on the good things happening around you.
Philippians
4:8, The Passion Translation says
Keep
your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable
and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And
fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.
This
means there will be reasons to think about the wrong things around but decided
to think of God’s goodness and on the beautiful things around, the people in
our lives and all that we have is an act of gratitude to the Source of all
things, God.
The word gratitude can have a variety of meanings depending on who
uses it and in what context but in general terms, gratitude according to Robert
Emmons, the world's foremost scientific expert on gratitude, argues that there
are two key components to gratitude
"First and foremost," he writes, "it's an
affirmation of goodness." We affirm that there are good things in the
world, as evidenced by the gifts and benefits we have received."
"We recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside
of ourselves," he says in the second part of gratitude. We acknowledge
that other people—or, if you're a spiritual person, higher powers—gave us many
gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.
Now, you can develop a positive mindset by doing the following:
1. Observe the moment:
Take a second to focus on your experience and how you are feeling. Take stock
of your senses and think about what is helping you cope. Are there people who
have done something for you?
We
most times have people
we
can talk to or pour our troubles into but we are never grateful to God for
bringing these people into our lives, so we never show appreciation to these
people.
We
often times just use these people to achieve our purposes, afterwards, we dump
them and move on, sometimes not intentionally but our desires are only focused
on the search for what makes us happy, so we forget to be thankful for the joy
we already have which by extension have the capacity to bring us more joy
One thing that particularly walked
for me was to mentally make a list of about 40 people who have influenced my
life, and have also been of help to me at some point in my life;
This act alone did the following to
my subconscious mind;
a. I started appreciating long-term friends I parted ways with because
of some kind of misunderstanding.
b. I could now meditate on their good part and realized I may have
judged them wrongly by allowing our misunderstanding to have the better part of
our friendship.
c. I could sincerely now appreciate them and communicated my
feelings to them via SMS and some of them who saw my sincerity got back to me
with great joy in their hearts.
d. I sent the SMS at about 1 am, and the reason is not far-fetched.
Anyone who noticed the timing of my message will know I truly meant my message
to them.
My feeling after each SMS was sent
out cannot be explained, it felt like a burden lifted off my shoulders. It was
like I was in another world
Are there particular things helping
you manage your stress, feel good about your life, or accomplish what you need
to do? You may also find the practice of mindfulness, which focuses on becoming more
aware of the present moment, a helpful tool.
2. Write it down: You might find it helpful to
start a gratitude journal where you jot down a few things you are thankful for
each day. Being able to look back on these observations can help when you are
struggling to feel grateful.
a. You can write down the names of the people you plan to
appreciate, your boss who gave you your first job. He or she took a risk of believing
your story during the interview.
b. Write down how you felt visiting some places that gave you good
memories
c. Write down how good you felt when you helped or gave someone
something, money, clothes, or a visit.
- Savor the moment:
Give yourself time to really enjoy the moment. Focus on the experience and
allow yourself to absorb those good feelings. Like closing your eyes on a
beach or when your team won the champions league, EPL or any form of a trophy,
you felt on top of the world right? let these moments stick to your mind,
the subconscious will always play back the feelings in times of heaviness
or concerns in your life.
- Create gratitude rituals:
in your low moments, Pause for a moment to appreciate something, and
giving thanks for it can help you feel a greater sense of gratitude. It
could be the gift you got on your last birthday or when you genuinely
appreciate a friend who remembered to pray for you; meditation, prayer, or
mantra are examples of rituals that can inspire a greater sense of
gratitude.
David is an example of a man whose
meditation helped to develop a mindset of gratitude, for instance, Psalm
Psalm 30:1-4 TPT says
1Lord, I will exalt you
and lift you high,
for you have lifted me
up on high!
Over all my boasting,
gloating enemies,
you made me to
triumph.
2 O Lord, my healing
God,
I cried out for a
miracle and you healed me!
3 You brought me back
from the brink of death,
from the depths below.
Now here I am, alive and
well, fully restored!
4O sing and make
melody, you steadfast lovers of God.
Give thanks to him
every time you reflect on his holiness!
- Give thanks:
Gratitude is all about recognizing and appreciating those people, things,
moments, skills, or gifts that bring joy, peace, or comfort into our
lives.
Show your appreciation. You might spend a moment simply mentally
appreciating what you have. Remember, the most effective action on our
subconscious is when we appreciate God, the giver of all things, the people, and
things He places in our lives.
Expressing your appreciation for others is an important
component that can affect your interpersonal relationships, particularly
those with your spouse.
People who are high in gratitude experience sharp declines in marital dissatisfaction when their partner does not express gratitude in return.
Showing
your gratitude for those around you will help improve the quality and
satisfaction of your relationships.
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