6 Benefits of Being More Grateful Daily

Gratitude is not the end result, but rather an attitude to life, a valuable skill worth practicing. But why practice a thankful attitude to life? Here are six reasons from my own experience.

1. You can choose how you feel
   You experience relief when you understand that you can choose how you feel about a situation. A thankful person knows that they can choose to focus on how miserable the weather is outside or on how lovely and warm their home is and how beautiful candles are. Instead of experiencing life through the eyes of a victim, the thankful feel they are able to influence their own experience.
2. You experience less stress
   When you think about things that are good, nice and pleasant, different areas of the brain are activated than when you are stressed. When the body receives the message that “there are no noticeable threats, things are going well,” the brain’s fear center, which is involved in the stress response, becomes silent.
3. Failures are not failures
   A grateful person finds that even the “so-called” failures always have a good side: adversity brings you lessons that you needed to learn. After the disappointment, the grateful person will look back and find the lessons and be grateful for having learnt. This way, a person develops in relation to themselves and constantly learns new things about themselves.
4. You will find that every moment is relevant
   When you start to see the good in each moment, the moment becomes more meaningful. Doing this you change your thoughts from “then when…” thinking to committing to the moment, to what life actually really is. Instead of living with a feeling of lacking, always expectant of something you don’t yet have, you begin to experience and value the present, what you do have.
5. You will be more present
   When you experience commitment and interest in this moment, and it doesn’t seem like a mere means to achieve something better, your experience of presence deepens. This will make you feel more calm and creates a state of contentment and happiness.
6. The grateful attract more reasons for gratitude
   We are drawn like a magnet to the company of grateful, present, and happy people, even though we might not consciously understand why it feels good to be in their presence. Especially people who experience more gratefulness will seek out other grateful people, and the good will multiply. The more you see the things to be thankful for life, the more you invite them in and the more gratitude you will experience.