The Key to Happiness is Gratitude

You ever walk down a street and see someone who just beams happiness? They are always just chipper upbeat and flat-out happy? How about a person who appears to have everything yet they are always in a foul mood. You ever wonder how they could appear so miserable? Now there could be lots of different reason for one or the other. you could have the happy person just quit his job and has started out on his own. The two people in this example more than likely have one thing that is different. and that is the happy person has gratitude in his heart. He is grateful for his eyes opening in the morning and grateful for all that he did during the day and grateful he was able to make it home to see his family again. People who have gratitude in their life come at problems with a different mindset. Instead of attacking a problem with a scarcity mindset, their hearts and minds are full of gratitude so they have an abundant mindset.

Gratitude is the Best Attitude

What is your overall attitude? Do you see a glass as half full or as half empty? That example is all scarcity or abundant mindset. The negative mindset is where you have the attitude of oh well why try? Many people who are often afraid or angry all the time don’t have hope or don’t see good in any situation. If you were to tell them it could be worse. They respond with, “No it couldn’t”, or “I don’t see how”.

Gratitude keeps me happy and helps keep a positive mindset to start the school week. #grateful pic.twitter.com/518ehITEXt

— Theresa Lambert (@theresaklambert) November 4, 2018

While that grateful person understands that there is always a solution. The positive person may not want one or two of the options but understands that there are also some solutions that are closer to what they want. A grateful person sees the issue at hand as a problem looking for a solution. While the pessimist sees only the problem and thinks that the problem will only get bigger. The cool thing about having a feeling of gratitude is that there is that the light at the end of the tunnel. You see that silver lining on every cloud. The grateful person has greater happiness in their life. As opposed to the person who is the grumble butt in the office.

In Paradise, finding reasons for gratitude amid destruction of California fire https://t.co/qWIjw0bgB9 via @latimes

— Chris 🇺🇸 (@Chris_1791) November 23, 2018

Who does it benefit

First, off it helps you out. According to the Berkley site Greater, Good cite’s that there are several benefits to gratitude. Physical

• Stronger immune system
• Fewer aches and pains
• Lowers blood pressure
• You have a higher desire to exercise and take better care of your health
• Better Sleep

Psychological

• More positive emotions
• More alert
• A greater sense of feeling alive
• You experience more joy and pleasure
• More optimism and happiness

Social

• More helpful
• More generous
• Greater compassion
• More forgiving
• More outgoing
• Feel less lonely and isolated.

Beside for yourself, you are a better influence on other people. Nobody likes to follow someone who is scowling and in a foul mood all the time. You also influence people more when you have a positive attitude.

That is because you become a thermostat instead of a thermometer. You cause people to change their outlook on the current situation instead of your attitude being changed by others. People inherently like to be happy. They enjoy the sensation of gratitude and the positive energy that is associated with feeling happy and content.

So I now ask which person would you rather be? Someone who is grateful for the small things they have or the person who is never happy? Thankfully if you want to change there is hope

How can you be grateful?

Hey! So you decided you wanted to be a sane pleasant person after all? Awesome, the desire to change is the first step after all. So if you have been a sourpuss for most of your life how do you change that? The answer is it takes a while. The old saying Rome wasn’t built in a day. Well, neither was the bad attitude. To change it will take mindfulness of your attitude and dedication. When you slip up, remind yourself that it is OK. You will fall into that world of negativity from time to time. Heck, I’m still working on gratitude after several years of frustration.

Twinning with my mini me! @ashermly we only had to wait a year! We ❤️ November! #grateful pic.twitter.com/wqdGXXLw9M

— Kelly Allen (@KAllenKinder) November 2, 2018

Change your vocabulary Instead of I have to finish this job use I have the opportunity to finish this job. There are looking at life as an opportunity. Problems are looking for a solution. The full concept of what words to use can be tricky because your mindset is changing. If you use a set of words that you are unsure about then change your phraseology. Some good phrases to change to are My Pleasure. Yeah, you hear this at Chick-fil-a all the time and that is because phrases like Its no problem, your welcome, Not an issue, all come from the thought that the person assumes they are a bother to you. While My please takes that thought and turns it on its head and allows you to come from a place of servitude. That is because you are giving and you are grateful for giving your service. So because you could help out it is nothing but your pleasure. Instead of fixing the problem, see if You can solve the problem. Fixing says the issue is broken while Solving says that it is correctable. Instead of Why Not try to use Sounds good. So as you can see there are lots of ways you can change your mindset by changing the words you use. Gratitude Journal If you want to really incorporate the mindset of gratitude and appreciation into your life, one of the best ways is to write 5 things you are grateful for each day. In other words, start a gratitude journal And if you really want to up the challenge try to make it something unique each day, or limit your repeats to once a month. Write thank you Letters This is old school, but one of the best ways to develop a grateful mind. Write AND SEND out thank you cards. Depending on who you talk to some people try to send out 1 thank you card a day while others do one once a week. Now, this can get a bit costly with stamps increasing as often as they do but the reward is so tremendous. It causes you to really grasp the concept of gratitude as you tell people thanks for ________. Because if you try to phone it in you will fell it and it will come across in your letter. The other point to this is to actually send real thank you notes. not the virtual. The act of getting a card in the mail is good for the sender and the recipient.

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So there you go if you really want to be happy and successful then you need to start finding some gratitude. It isn’t hard to find you just have to know what you are looking for. Then when you have it. you can help but share it with everyone around. You even find amusement when you are able to irritate the grouch of the office with your good cheer and positivity. So go out and find something to be grateful for. What are you grateful for? let me know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading, and I would be thankful if you were to share this out to your friends and family. If not, well I’m grateful for you reading.