Gratitude is such an important part of life, yet it is so overlooked! There are millions of articles, books, iPhone apps, and did I mention books?….telling us about the importance of gratitude. I have always found this to be very odd as gratitude should come to one naturally. So, why then do we have books telling us how to be grateful? Why do we need to be told to be grateful? I know that life can be crazy, but gratitude can be expressed at any time during the day (this is very similar to meditation). In my opinion the art of gratitude has been lost but the good news is that you do not need a book telling you how to be grateful for the present moment. Gratitude is a genuine feeling and if you have not expressed gratitude in some time, then it might just take some extra practice to add gratitude to your routine!

What is gratitude?

Gratitude doesn’t need an explanation! However, when you are grateful you are simply thankful for everything in your life. You view everything in a positive light, and don’t complain about anything in your life. You don’t gossip about others and don’t think about what your life is lacking. Instead, you are happy with what you have in your life and you genuinely appreciate everything. I want to emphasize “Genuine” because if your gratitude does not come from the heart then your gratitude is superficial!

Here are three ways in which you can become more grateful starting today!

Appreciate Everything – Gratitude applies to everything in your life. For example, you could be grateful for the sun shining today or even the running water you have in your house! Often times, we overlook everything in our routine when we talk about gratitude. The sun shining and the running water that you used to brush your teeth with are all miracles in their own way. The ability to recognize this will help you be grateful throughout the day!

Write! Sometimes, writing why you are grateful can subconsciously help you see all the reasons why you do need to be grateful. You can either use a notebook or even write down your gratitude on your phone as you go about your day! At the end of the day you will be surprised to see everything that you should in fact be grateful for in your life! If you find yourself getting stuck in terms of what you should be writing about you can even use this gratitude journal which will provide you with prompts to get your gratitude writing started!

Meditation – The practice of meditation allows your mind to be be present. Being present helps you to become even more grateful for everything in your life! When you meditate, focus your mind on everything you are grateful for. You will find that meditation will help inspire your gratitude practice!

Gratitude is extremely essential and learn to be grateful every day! You will see that gratitude helps you become more present in the current moment and contributes to more optimism in your life. The moment you change your attitude towards your life, that is when you will learn how to be grateful!