Often taking things for granted, it can be easy to neglect expressing our gratitude for all of life’s blessings. Have you ever stopped and contemplated what it would be like to wake each morning in gratitude, entirely aware of the precious gift each new day has to offer us? As stated by the incredible Thich That Hanh, a Vietnamese Monk and Peace Activist, “Every morning we have 24 brand new hours to live. What a precious gift!” However why is practicing gratitude such a pivotal key to our overall wellbeing?
Being Grateful for all that we have in life is one of the keys to true happiness, and by recognising the things around us that we are thankful for instead of dwelling on those we aren’t, we immediately change our frame of mind and the thoughts that reside there.
Recent studies reveal that considering and acknowledging your blessings on a regular basis not only leads to feeling more optimistic and enjoying greater overall satisfaction in life, however it can also have phenomenal physical and emotional benefits. In fact, being grateful can increase your feeling and level of happiness by up to 25%, as well as also improving your quality of sleep, mental health, relationships and even increases your resilience, making you better able to cope with stress and hardship.
Incorporating more gratitude into your daily life is simple, and is one of the most accessible tools for improving your quality of life. Ways in which you could ensure you practice this may include keeping a gratitude journal where each day you record the things you are most thankful for. You may even practice an ‘attitude of gratitude’, where whenever you encounter a negative obstacle, spin the situation around to remind yourself of it’s positive effect instead.
Being grateful shifts the lens from what is lacking or not ideal, to what is already present and good. Often we tend to take for granted everything that is fantastic in our lives, and instead dwell on what we perceive is wrong, what we don’t have or what we don’t like.
So as you sip your favourite drink out of your gorgeous Cristina Re teacup, invite yourself to consider how your life could be different, if instead of rolling over in the morning to silence an alarm and devote your first minutes to your phone, you instead begin with thanks. Follow in the footsteps of Thich That Hanh and make a promise to yourself, that each morning, awaken in gratitude and be aware of the precious gift of having 24 hours new hours to live.
Cristina xx
