TIPS FOR INCORPORATING GRATITUDE IN YOUR LIFE

PRACTICING GRATITUDE

When you practice gratitude, you make it a point to acknowledge your thankfulness and appreciation for what you have. This applies to both material things and non-material things such as health, family, and friends. When you begin to think about all of the things that you have to be grateful for in your life it can really make you feel more positive about everything. Having that positive mindset can really help in the way you approach everything in your life.

Even when we know we are grateful for many things we can forget to think about it when things get challenging. Just trying to get through a busy season can lead us to forget about how many things we have to be grateful for because we are just focused on trying to get by. So, every once in a while it’s good to just remind ourselves to try to make thinking about the things we are grateful for a part of our daily practices as much as we can.

GRATITUDE IMPACT ON OUR LIVES

Practicing gratitude can have a positive impact on many aspects of our lives including 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 even 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. So, today I am going to go over some tips for making gratitude a bigger part of your life.

SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Of course, there is a balance here, but I think that sometimes when we are really happy about something we want to share it with others. There is a balance between feeling like we are trying to be boastful and just sharing something that makes us happy. I think it’s important to remember that we can’t control what others think about us. If sharing something on social media that you are really grateful for makes you feel good, then go ahead and do it. That reminds me, I did a few thankful Thursdays in our Facebook Group, and then completely forgot about it! It can be fun to share even just little things that you are grateful for with others.

CHANGE HOW YOU REACT – DENTIST EXAMPLE

Of course, this does not apply to all situations.  Some situations are truly very difficult to get through. But, sometimes you can change how you are feeling from negative to positive just by taking a minute to remind yourself how you can be grateful for the situation. Two things that come to mind are the dentist and my job. In the past, I would despise going to the dentist for my cleanings. I would dread it as it was approaching and then sit there waiting for it to be over like it was the worst thing I could ever have to do.

One day I decided to change the way I thought about it and started to tell myself that I am lucky to have this kind of care available to me. There are many people who are not able to go get their teeth cleaned regularly and take care of this aspect of their health so easily. Now every time I go to the dentist I remind myself of this. Do I love going to the dentist now?  No.  But, I am definitely way less miserable about it than I had been in the past.

CHANGE HOW YOU REACT – WORK EXAMPLE

Another example I have is my job. Like everything, there are times when my job gets extremely stressful for me. I really love my job.  But that doesn’t mean there are not times when I get totally overwhelmed with the workload that may be expected of me at a given time just due to the nature of life. It seems like special projects sometimes come at the same time. Like most of us, sometimes I get really stressed out when I have several conflicting priorities with tight deadlines and limited resources to complete them.

When times like this came up I would spend a lot of time thinking about how awful it was and how I am never going to be able to get this stuff done. I started to tell myself how that even though I am going through a stressful time I am so happy to have a job like this. Many people don’t love the work they do as I do. I remind myself that I work for a great company and that situations like this have happened before and I get through them. This in no way erases the stress related to the situation but remember that I really am glad to have a job that I love it really helps in dealing with whatever I am trying to get through.

GRATITUDE JOURNAL

I have never personally kept a gratitude journal. However, this is a very popular practice for many people. Taking even just a few minutes to sit down and write about the things you are grateful for can help you recognize the little things to be grateful for each day. Creating a habit of writing in a gratitude journal can also be a good way to remind yourself to think of the things you are grateful for if you live a very busy life.

TAKE TIME FOR THE SIMPLE THINGS

Taking time to slow down a little bit sometimes can help us see all of the little things we can be grateful for. Getting into bed at night under clean sheets and a warm blanket. Having a car that starts up every morning. Making your favorite drink and taking some time to rest. Watching the changes in nature through the seasons. Having food and the tools necessary to make food to eat. Watching the garbage gets picked up and taken away by the garbage men! Come on, I can’t be the only one who feels grateful when I see the empty garbage can.  Especially, when we were really maxing it out!

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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