What is gratitude?
Gratitude is derived from the Latin word "gratus," which means "thankful or grateful." It is a feeling of thankfulness or the readiness to show generosity towards something/someone.
We often forget to acknowledge someone's presence or appreciate something which made us who we are today. Returning the kindness and being grateful for whatever we receive every day is very important. For instance, the food we eat or the shelter we have above our head are all gifts of the Almighty.
Expressing our gratitude will not make us inferior; but instead, it will make us better people.
This article will give you a brief idea about the importance of gratitude and how to practice gratitude daily.
Let's get started!
Importance of gratitude
According to researches, showing feelings of gratefulness increases the level of happiness by 20%. We often don't understand the importance of gratitude but acknowledging something will make a lot of difference in one's life. Being thankful and having the habit of appreciating improves the overall quality of life in many ways. Some of them are:
- Improves mental health
- Improves quality of sleep
- Develops social interaction
- Less stress and anxiety
- Being helpful and kind towards others
How to practice gratitude daily?
1. Reach out to those who have your back
Take a moment and thank those people who were there with you during every thick and thin. Never let go of those few people whom you can count on. Very handful of us gets the opportunity to have someone in our lives who stayed with us no matter what the situation was. They did something special for us to see a smile on our faces. Those people are precious, and we should seldom thank them for their presence in our lives. Try and make them feel great.
2. Creating a gratitude journal
Starting a gratitude journal is the first step when we talk about "how to practice gratitude daily." Good things take time to happen, so we should make a habit of noting down every good thing that happens to us. Commit to creating a journal and recording whatever well wishes you got in a day. Maintaining a journal will help you return the kindness that you have received.
3. Watch something inspiring
Watching some inspiring videos or clips can make you feel the importance of gratitude. These videos will push you to become thankful for trustworthy people. Showing gratitude will help you conquer stress and anxiety.
4. Meditate and try to observe
Meditate regularly and maintain good relationships with your family, children, friends, colleagues, and relatives. Ask yourself questions like "what have you done for your closed ones today?" or "have you caused any trouble for them?" In this way, you'll be able to keep a check on yourself as well as on your loved ones. Make sure to start your day in a pleasant mood and end your day on a good note.
5. Check on your language and way of talking
We all tend to treat others the way we are treated. Therefore, if we try to change our way of talking, it might often work as gratitude. Grateful people often have a different style of approaching people, which is itself very appealing. One should try to be as good as possible while returning a favor or convincing someone. Even the language in which you are conveying your message matters to the person you are talking to.
6. Avoid negative thoughts and content
Shows that promote harmful activities and actions must be avoided because they can give birth to negative thoughts that disturb the peace of mind. Movies containing destructive content also negatively impact kids and sensitive people; hence, they abstain from watching them.
Psychologists recommend us to become a better person by thinking positive every day.
The temporary emotion we witness after receiving a gift or a favor pushes us to show gratitude. Similarly, the idea of having a decent way of talking with everyone around us also indicates how much gratitude matters to us. Henceforth, showing appreciation should be a significant part of your everyday life.