The Importance of Gratitude (And How to Practice It)

Have you ever met someone so grateful, happy, and optimistic?

Aren’t they more likable than others?

There’s something incredible & inspiring about them that you want to emulate.

It could be because they practice gratitude and see the beauty of life in the simplest things. 

The Link Between Gratitude & Happiness

From daily journaling to dinner prayers, practicing gratitude can take many forms. And it doesn’t need to be reserved only for momentous occasions like Thanksgiving or getting promoted at work.

You can be grateful for something as simple as freshly brewed coffee in the morning.

Retrieving positive memories and being thankful for past blessings counts, too.

With gratitude, you can acknowledge the goodness in your life.

In turn, you may also recognize that the source of that goodness is bigger than yourself or lies at least partially outside yourself.

Being grateful helps you connect to nature, other people, or a higher power.

What comes after that? You’ll likely relish good yet fleeting moments, be better at dealing with adversity, build stronger relationships, and feel more positive emotions like happiness.

Many psychologists found a link between gratitude practice and happiness. In one study, Dr. Robert Emmons and Dr. Michael McCullough asked participants to journal each week.

They asked one group to write about things they were grateful for that had happened during the week.

On the other hand, the second group was tasked to write about the things that irritated or displeased them each week.

The third group wrote about events that impacted them; it didn’t matter whether those situations affected them positively or negatively. 

After ten weeks, participants who wrote about gratitude felt better about their lives. They were more optimistic than the other groups.

Interestingly, they also worked out more and had fewer visits to their physicians than those who wrote about their sources of aggravation.

In one of his books, Dr. Emmons also mentioned that regular grateful thinking could boost your happiness by as much as 25 percent. He also shared that keeping a gratitude journal for as little as three weeks could result in better sleep, more energy, and better overall well-being. 

How to Practice Gratitude for the Long Haul

Even with all the studies saying giving thanks can make us happier, why do many still find it hard to practice gratitude daily? 

Here’s one of the answers: like any habit, being grateful needs to be cultivated. In the beginning, you may feel motivated to write in your gratitude journal every evening.

But you might stop once you get busier at work or your favorite Netflix series returns. So the key here is not only to begin a gratitude practice but to maintain it for the long haul. 

Here are some tips on how you can practice being grateful for a long time:

Gratitude journaling works because it gradually changes how you perceive new situations by adjusting your focus—from zeroing in on aggravation to looking at sources of joy.

While you might always be grateful for your family, writing “I’m thankful for my fam!” each day doesn’t keep your brain alert for new grateful moments. So go and be more specific! 

Write about how fun the brunch you had with your sister or how you laughed about your dad’s joke that morning.

By noticing these new things that make you grateful, you open your eyes to more moments, people, and things around you that can deepen your practice.

Are you a visual learner? Gratitude mapping is perfect for you.

All you have to do is create an engaging visual mood board for everything you’re thankful for.

Then, place this board in an area you always go to, so you can remind yourself to practice gratitude. 

You can also use a gratitude jar. Whenever you feel thankful for something—be it a childhood memory, a fun day with friends, or a notification that your online orders will soon arrive—write it down on paper and slip it into the jar.

If you feel down or sad one day, simply give the gratitude jar a shake and pick out one piece of paper.

Read it, and it’ll likely remind you of the simple pleasures you might have otherwise forgotten.

It’s hard to be motivated to develop a habit if you don’t have autonomy over it.

So don’t limit yourself, and don’t be afraid to mix it up.

If you feel like you’re getting tired of journaling, give it a rest for a moment and try out new ways to track your grateful moments. 

Again, you can use a gratitude jar. You can also practice another form of being grateful—like writing a gratitude letter to someone who had an impact on you and whom you haven’t thanked.

Being social about your practice works, too. You could share your day’s grateful moments around the dinner table or through your best gals’ group chat.

The conversations that follow may give you even more reasons to be grateful. 

Begin Your Gratitude Practice with Self-Love Overflow

If you need a little more nudge in starting or maintaining your gratitude practice, Self-Love Overflow is here for you.

We can send you helpful materials and other resources.

And we’ll do everything to guide you as you track your grateful moments & memories each day.