Have you ever found yourself stuck in the doldrums, with seemingly nothing positive to look forward to? Or conversely, perhaps the hectic pace of your day-to-day responsibilities has you feeling overwhelmed, barely able to hold your head above water. Has one stressful circumstance after another showed up in your health or life, and you feel anxious, frustrated, or scared?

My guess is that we all have felt one or more of these feelings at different times in life. It might seem like everything must turn around for us to feel better—or even just one positive circumstance to head us back toward some semblance of joy.

I invite you to incorporate a simple exercise into your daily routine that is sure to powerfully shift the trajectory of your experience, regardless of what life has thrown your way. Pausing each day to deeply appreciate everyday blessings is a life-changing practice.

Gratitude

Gratitude helps us rise above whatever difficulties we may be facing and keeps our focus on the positive aspects of our life. It shifts our energy and creates positive outcomes for our health, emotions, and relationships. By focusing on gratitude, we feel lighter and filled with more energy because it raises our level of consciousness. When we are in a state of gratitude, it centers us in the flow of good that is present everywhere.

Psychology Today reports seven scientifically proven benefits of gratitude:

1. Opens the door to more relationships
2. Improves physical health
3. Improves psychological health
4. Enhances empathy and reduces aggression
5. Improves sleep
6. Improves self-esteem
7. Increases mental strength

Author, Melodie Beatty, says,

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and

more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It

can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It

turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect

timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn an existence into a real

life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for

tomorrow. Gratitude makes things right.”

Incorporating Gratitude into your Daily Routine

Expressing gratitude is an essential part of any spiritual practice. Try beginning and ending each day with gratitude. Whether you write in a journal or speak your appreciation aloud or in your head and heart, spend a few minutes noticing people, places, things, and circumstances for which you are grateful. Sometimes blessings are taken for granted, or you might not see the gifts in challenging situations. Be thankful for each experience you go through, knowing every experience (whether perceived good or bad) benefits you in some way. Even if you cannot see the silver lining in the moment, your gratitude will help you trust that all will be revealed to you in time.

Another simple, but powerful exercise you can do for a few minutes every day uses a combination of mindfulness and gratitude. This exercise is done while you are going about your day. I like to do it in the morning while preparing breakfast or getting ready for the day. Take a deep breath and focus your mind on every minute action you take and every object you touch. Say “Thank you” to each object as you complete the tasks you are doing. For example, while beginning to make a smoothie, it may sound something like this:

“Thank you, blender,…thank you, lid…thank you, countertop…thank you, water…thank you, refrigerator for keeping the water cold…thank you, spinach…thank you, farmer who grew the spinach…thank you, banana…thank you, banana peel for protecting the banana…thank you, cinnamon…thank you, freezer…thank you, blueberries…etc.

Not only does this exercise raise your awareness of the multitude of blessings to be grateful for, but the mindfulness practice of being completely in the moment also connects you to your higher power and centers you in a peaceful state of mind. In this state, your heart and mind are naturally aligned with love, joy, kindness, and compassion, and it is much easier to notice all the good in your life.

“The root of joy is gratefulness…

It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”

“David Steindl-Rast