It’s always easier to be grateful when things are going well, but it might be even more important to remember to be grateful on those particularly bumpy days. Gratitude has been shown to actually change the brain, making us happier and even bringing more positive things into our life. It has the ability to transform us as a person, making us kinder, happier and even healthier.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
One of the easiest ways to turn a bad day, week or even a year around is by focusing on gratitude. No matter how bad things are, you can find someone who has it worse – and, you can always find something, or several things to feel grateful for in your own life.
This list can be a good start for creating your own list of things to be grateful for.
Clean water to drink
Without water, we cease to exist, but you probably take the fact that you have plenty of drinkable water for granted. There are many people who don’t have that – 780 million people around the globe do not have access to safe drinking water, according to water.org.
Your health
Even if you suffer from one ailment or another, or even several, you most likely have at least several parts that are in good working order.
Your pets
If you have a pet, or pets, you probably already know they provide one of the best examples of unconditional love there is. On a bad day, on a good day, they’ll provide you with lots of love, and often laughter too.
For family
Whether by blood, or people you’ve met who feel like family, including your parents, who, no matter how dysfunctional, did make it possible for you to come into this world.
People who don’t like you
Being grateful for those who don’t like you can remind you that you have strong values and opinions – so much so that you’re willing to sacrifice some of your own likability at the expense of standing by them. And that’s a good thing.
Freedom of religion
Being able to worship whomever and however you want, or noone at all, is something many people don’t have the freedom to do.
Your mistakes
If you never made them, you wouldn’t have learned from them and be the person you are today.
Having a roof over your head
If you have a roof over your head, be it a tent, shack, apartment or a mansion, you’ve got something to be grateful for as there are estimated to be 100 million people around the world who don’t have that luxury.
You can read
If you’re reading this now, you’re most likely literate. There are 774 million people worldwide who are illiterate and an estimated 14% of U.S. adults who can’t read.
Your phone
Your phone allows you to communicate with people instantly, even when you’re separated by long distances.
Breathing fresh air
Simply breathing the fresh air outside can reduce stress and increase happiness. If you aren’t breathing highly polluted air that can irritate your eyes, nose and throat, or worse, air that contains toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, injury to the lungs, brain and nerve damage, it’s something to be grateful for.
Art
Art makes life beautiful in and of itself. Just looking at a beautiful piece of artwork can help lower your blood pressure and reduce stress and anxiety. If you look closerly, there is art all around you – you don’t have to be close toa museum to find it.
Nature
For the grass, and all the tiny creatures that live within it, the trees that provide us with shade and give our environments life, the beauty of a rainbow.
Laughter
What would life be without laughter?
Wisdom
While many of us don’t like the thought of growing older, with age, comes greater wisdom. Be grateful you’re getting older.
-The Alternative Daily
Sources:
http://happierhuman.com/the-science-of-gratitude
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/14132-cultivate-the-habit-of-being-grateful-for-every-good-thing
http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water
http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/homelessness-statistics
http://www.livescience.com/3211-14-percent-adults-read.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/08/tk-ways-fresh-air-impacts_0_n_5648164.html
