Say Thank You. Feel Grateful.
SAY THANK YOU. FEEL GRATEFUL.
Thank you.
You will hear that phrase a lot in the coming weeks and months as we enter the season of giving. But what if you could go a step further this year and shift your mindset from thankful to grateful.
What is the difference, you might be thinking?
Thankfulness is something we talk about. Gratitude is something we feel.
Thankfulness is fleeting and usually directed at receiving benefits. We thank each other for opening doors or paying for a cup of coffee. It is a reaction to a moment in time, and we move on.
Gratitude is a deep and complex emotion that goes beyond appreciation for the good things in our lives. It can be directed toward people, experiences, possessions, or simply at the very fact of being alive.
Gratitude Is an attitude
Gratitude is linked with having a sense of purpose. It defines why we do something and gives us guiding principles to achieve our goals. When we practice gratitude in our work life, the means actually do justify the ends. We are transparent, honest and sincere. We interact with colleagues respectfully and we support each other because it is the right thing to do.
Gratitude plays an important role in relationship building as well. When you begin to look at others with the attitude of what do I have to offer rather than what do I need, you are moving from thankfulness to gratitude.
The first step toward gratitude is crafting your ‘what I have’ list. What is the why of your life? Who or what fills your life and creates joy? What motivates you, gets you up in the morning, and spurs you on to be productive during the day?
Identify the answers to the above questions and you have essentially written your ‘what I have’ list. What you have is a reason to exist that impacts others through the support of loved ones and a like-minded community of friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
The next step is to think about your life in a way that doesn’t just express thanks but also conveys emotion. You are thankful for your home; you are grateful for the safety and comfort it provides for your family. You are thankful for dinner with friends; you are grateful because of how those friends make you feel supported and loved. You are thankful for a paycheck; you are grateful for the opportunity your job gives you to enrich the community around you.
The third step is to develop a gratitude attitude. It takes practice, so incorporate it into your daily life by adopting an I ‘get to’ attitude rather than an I ‘have to’ attitude. Let gratitude guide your motives and actions.
Change your mind
Feeling gratitude is a powerful tool that can literally rewire your brain. It releases dopamine and serotonin, two crucial neurotransmitters that are responsible for emotions, more specifically, our ‘feel good’ emotions. Scientific research has linked gratitude to an improvement in quality of life.
Gratitude can:
· Open the door to more relationships.
· Cause people to experience fewer aches and pains and help them to feel healthy.
· Reduce a multitude of toxic emotions from envy to regret.
· Reduce aggression and increase empathy.
· Increase self-esteem by reducing social comparisons.
· Increase mental strength by making us more resilient and reducing effects of trauma.
Emphasizing what you have rather than what you need shifts your mindset from thankful to grateful. Being grateful has many benefits from improved health to a feeling of purpose. The season of giving is upon us, and we would encourage you to spend time making your ‘what I have list’ and letting gratitude literally change your mind.
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus 1 Thessalonians 5:18