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Gratitude or appreciating the things that you have has been touted as the be all end all in mindset shifting. The problem is, you can't artificially manufacture gratefulness. So what can you do? What should you do?
Become aware of your real feelings.
Catch yourself feeling gratitude.
Take note of the things that put you in an appreciative state of mind.
Do more of those things.
Accept that this is an emotion we shift in and out of.
The goal is to focus on the things that make us feel right with the world. When we focus on those things, the world tends to right itself more often.
How do I know this?
I know this because I struggled with this concept. People like to throw concepts out there without giving a whole lot of background or detail. You can't fake true happiness or peace. If it's not vibing with your soul, you can't force it to. What you can do is start to notice the things that light up your soul, and focus on making sure more of those things are in your life everyday.
Here is a list of ideas from my personal experience.
Being home with my children and spouse.
Being with people who appreciate me for who I am.
Feeling energetic because I got enough sleep, ate healthy things, etc...
Spending a little time at the end of each day to unwind and watch a show.
Playing Scrabble with my husband, and laughing. No that's not a word. I'm sure of it.
Reading to my children.
Planning a fun family outing.
Drinking coffee in the morning.
Getting a good workout in.
Checking something off the list.
Achieving a goal.
Staying in my power (I should write more about this one).
Spending some time alone.
Are you getting the idea? The first thing I had to do was notice that these things were things that made me happy, and then it was easy. None of these things are expensive. I'm not in a deep sense of gratitude all the time, but these are the things that bring me back. These things allow me to be more resilient on a difficult day, and keep me motivated through challenging times. Gratitude is a destination. It's kind of like a rest stop.
Love and light,
Maria