Gratitude is a feeling of thank you. Saying it is an expression of that feeling.
Thanking the little things, the big things, when things you think are good for being so good, when things you feel are bad for helping you to become stronger, learning from the difficulty, appreciating everything and everyone for something in your life. Imagine walking around being deeply thankful!
A feeling of thankfulness can be easy when things are going really good for you-perhaps some great moments alone or with someone- do you savor it? Can you feel the feeling of being thankful it is happening?
How often do you notice all you do have?
Gratitude is harder when things are tough. How often do you remember you are feeling better than you did when you were going thru a hard time-remember how you wanted it to pass-it did! Can you notice it has passed and a now have a feeling of thankfulness? Can you look at some of these harder times and be thankful for what you have learned or benefited by it? Maybe you are stronger or more understanding of other people as a result.
It is not just about things, but also people. Look around or think for a minute about a pretty important person in your life. Think about how they are important to you. As you think about them can you also feel some appreciation for who they are, who they are trying to be. Gratitude or appreciation is available to you when you think about it.
How often would we feel gratitude and say it to each other if we let someone know we appreciate them?
What if we focused on expressing our appreciation or gratitude of what we DO have and those people we care about for one hour, one day?
Your remember to try expressing gratitude and it felt good for a while. Now imagine you try it again, and again, more often. Even in the times you are not feeling any gratitude. Notice how it can change your mood?
To clarify: This is not just an automatic “thanks” …like you are supposed to do like: "Now, what do you say?"
But a real, meaningful pause of thankfulness. When that feeling is there, then acknowledging it can be a look, a gesture or words-such as a simple and meaningful, "Thank you."
Monthly challenge: Notice what happens when we start looking for reasons to have thanks, and learning how to express our thanks often. Notice how it might affect our relationships and our days?
Relevancy: What problem in our day, our class, our relationship our school can be solved when we start using gratitude more?
Take this video for the message it was trying to send.
Although this video ends on the scene it does (I did not make the video and the end is not my preference), I think the story would continue as everyone has something they can find gratitude for.