Practice Gratitude Daily

We all have those days when we wake up feeling exhausted from things in life and find ourselves just being a ‘negative nancy’ until someone close to us maybe points it out. It can be anything from being unhappy with your fitness goals, not staying on track with your eating plan to being unhappy with your current employer, not being employed, marriage, being single, kids, money, family and the list goes on and on and on. I hear you friends; trust me I know all about getting down on yourself. I’m sure we can all agree it really sucks the positive energy right out of you. We are so very lucky to be alive and healthy.

We all know the things going on in the world we live in today, so really take a look at your life through this gratitude practice. Be thankful and feel every area in your life become easier, more beautiful and calmer. I had first been introduced to a gratitude practice or journal by a friend that was helping me train for my first fitness competition. He was coaching me on taking the right supplements to gain the most benefit and then at the end of our first session he told me the last thing I needed to do that night was start a gratitude journal.

I was told to write down 5 things I am grateful for every night. He explained how this will have me waking up in a better mood and sleeping with such positive thoughts would allow me to have better dreams. Therefore, reaching my goals is a process of positive thinking and I need to put that out into the universe. I’ve never looked back since and the more I practiced, the more I was coming across articles and people in the fitness world sharing the same practice which helped them reach their goals. I felt lighter, happier and more accepting of the things that didn’t go my way.

I mean Oprah and Deepak Chopra have dedicated their life to helping people gain the power of gratitude through their award winning TV shows and books and its working for them, so why wouldn’t it work for you, or me? The key is to staying on track and if you fall off and have a visit from ‘negative nancy’, don’t be so hard on yourself. We’re all human and can only learn from our mistakes and bad days.

Here is a guide to starting your very own gratitude practice today!

1. Commit – your practice will only get better over time, be patient, be present.
2. Begin – all you need is a pen and paper or even just starting off by simply saying your gratitude to yourself, the first few times. It’s a great start!
3. Write it down – saying it and thinking it is one way, but writing it down makes it so much more official in our thoughts.
4. Feel it – even if ‘negative nancy’ just isn’t leaving that day, feel it, share it, release it.
5. Choose a set time of day – with any spiritual practice, it is important to set that time aside in your mind so you can make sure it gets done for your own mental well-being.