How to Practice Gratitude in Everyday Life

Much studied in psychology, gratitude is an emotion similar to appreciation. It is about the ability to feel and express gratitude for the positive aspects of one's life.

A powerful element essential to happiness, this simple "thank you" could have the power to bring about transformation on many levels.

Change your focus

The practice of gratitude helps to focus on abundance and happy events in life and to develop positive emotions. Very simply, it allows us to counterbalance the feeling of void that often inhabits us. It's the transition from "To be happy I would need ..." to "I'm grateful to have ... or to be ...".

Enjoying what we often take for granted, such as a family, a home and good health for example, makes us appreciate everyday life more and contributes to a feeling of well-being. Gratitude also encourages one to look behind and appreciate the progress made and to congratulate oneself on one's successes.

According to Robert Emmons, professor of psychology and author of the book Thank You!, practicing gratitude takes your attention away from "self" and redirects it to others and what they bring to us. Not surprisingly, all relationships benefit: the more we say thank you to the people around us, the more they show their appreciation, and the more opportunities we have to say thank you again! This is how a beautiful virtuous circle takes place.

Overall benefits

According to some studies, gratitude promotes better health. Indeed, those who practice it regularly would take better care of themselves, including more physical activity and better food choices. The feeling of gratitude would also improve the quality and duration of sleep, resistance to stress and increase the feeling of determination as well as self-esteem.

Gratitude in practice

Practicing gratitude only takes a few moments and can be done in a number of ways:

• Take time out, when you wake up, go to bed or when traveling and ask yourself: "What am I grateful for when I think of the loved ones around me? My health? My financial situation? My commitment to my work?

• Affirm your gratitude out loud, spontaneously and as often as possible, without waiting for a special occasion to say "thank you!"

• Relearn how to say "thank you" internally for the simple things in life, soaking up the context in question and the feelings that emerge from it.

• We can also write down daily in a gratitude journal some items for which we really feel grateful, specifying why they give us such a good feeling. The important thing is to fill yourself emotionally with everything that you value in your life.

In summary, practicing gratitude is a tremendous asset in reducing stress and anxiety, developing positive thoughts, improving relationships with others, and increasing life satisfaction and sense of well-being.

Thank yourself today!

References 

Emmons, Robert. (2008). Merci! Éditions Belfond, Paris, 298 pages.  

Williams, L. A., & Bartlett, M. Y. (2015). Warm thanks: Gratitude expression facilitates social affiliation in new relationships via perceived warmth. Emotion, 15(1), 1-5. 

Wood, Alex M & al. (2009). Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions. Journal of Psychosomatic Research; 66 (1): 43-48. 

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