THE POWER OF GRATITUDE
You can hear the audio version of this discussion on my podcast at Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast, on Apple Podcast, and many other platforms!
WHAT IS GRATITUDE?
Gratitude is a positive emotion that involves being thankful and appreciative. When you experience gratitude, you feel grateful for something or someone in your life and respond with feelings of kindness, warmth, and happiness.
THE POWER OF GRATITUDE
Actively practicing gratitude can have many benefits. Living a busy life can sometimes cause us to forget about all that we have to be grateful for. Even when we know we are grateful for the many things we can forget to think about it when things get challenging. We can get in the habit of just trying to get through each day and not take a moment to see all that is good in our lives. So, every once in a while it’s good to remind ourselves to think about the things we are grateful for as part of our daily practices as much as we can. Taking time to focus on the positive aspects and recognizing the value of what we have can really help us realize the benefits that come out of practicing gratitude. Gratitude helps us develop a positive mindset which can really help in the way we approach everything in our life.
IMPROVED WELL BEING
Expressing gratitude can brighten your outlook, boost your mood, and help you feel more positive when you face challenges. Research has shown that consciously practicing gratitude can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. It can help shift our focus from negative thoughts to positive ones, which can help us have a better sense of calm and well-being.
BETTER SELF-ESTEEM
Gratitude has been associated with increased self-esteem and self-worth. When we feel grateful for what we have, we are more likely to feel satisfied with our lives. We put more focus on the positive aspects of our lives rather than the negative ones.
GREATER RESILIENCE TO CHALLENGES
Gratitude can help increase resilience when challenging situations occur. It can help you have a different perspective in approaching difficult situations. You are more likely to approach challenges with an optimistic view which can make a difficult situation easier to get through.
IMPACT ON FINANCES
Gratitude also can play a major role in how we manage our finances. Incorporating gratitude as a regular practice, it can help make it easier to save money for things like paying off debt or building your savings for whatever you would like to have more money for. When you are not feeling grateful for what you have, it can lead to impulse spending. Impulse spending is when we make a purchase without putting thought into it. We don’t take time to consider if we really need or want something before making a purchase. It can also lead to increasing our budgeted expenses by trying to upgrade our lifestyle. When we are happy with and grateful for what we have we can focus on making sure we are using our available resources toward what we value most. When we value all that we have, it can greatly reduce the feeling of wanting to continuously upgrade our lifestyle.
GRATITUDE IS SIMPLE TO PRACTICE
To practice gratitude, you can start by being mindful of the things you are thankful for each day. Even the smallest things can help bring us happiness and improve our moods. Taking time to slow down a little bit sometimes can help us see all of the little things we can be grateful for. Think about how nice it is to get into bed at night under clean sheets and a warm blanket. Having a car that starts up every morning. Make your favorite drink and take some time to rest. Watching the changes in nature through the seasons. Noticing a tree budding or observing the birds near your home. Having food and the tools necessary to make food to eat.
THINGS I AM GRATEFUL FOR THIS SEASON
My home and warm clothes to wear. New HVAC system to keep us comfortable as the weather gets colder. Fall-scented hand soaps and lotions. Mums blooming in my yard. The health of my family and pets. Birthday celebrations – most of us are in the fall! Audiobooks (always grateful for these!). Colorful fall leaves. Pumpkin and apple picking.
THE LIST CAN GO ON
There are so many little things that we can be grateful for. It just takes a little bit of effort to take a second to recognize them as they make it through each day!
Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!
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