How Gratitude changed my life completely?
I was travelling to office and listening to songs. One notification popped up on my phone saying
“ Pause and think of 3 things you are grateful at the moment”
I immediately opened my gratitude journaling app, started writing. The reason I immediately pause the music and went for writing was because the moment before the notification, I was feeling so blessed to have the ability to listen, as I enjoy music, listening to podcasts etc.
While writing the 3 things I am blessed for I realised, how much grateful I am to be a whole person.
What would my life be without this body? I am a software engineer and if I did not have eyes, hands, ears etc how would I be able to code which I love. That’s when I realised this is the first time I am grateful for the ordinary thing in life which is generally taken for granted.
And feeling of gratitude within can’t be explained in words. It was such a strong feeling. I felt so so good.
I had never felt this strong feeling of gratitude from within
Why Gratitude is so in trend these days and it’s benefits?
#blessed #grateful all these hashtags trends on social media. But remember Instagram is reel life not real life. People might be putting these hashtags for fun or trend but it’s completely different to have it in real life.
There was a research study which was discussed in a book “Think like a monk”
People were divided in to 2 groups. At the end of the day, one group was asked to write about struggles, irritations, etc they faced and another group was asked to write about things they were feeling happy and grateful about.
After the study was completed, researchers found that second group have less level of stress and other group was feeling stressed and anxious.
Gratitude can have immense effect on your mindset. It helps you to refocus from “What you lack” to “What you have”
Try it yourself, you will see a difference in your mood levels.
We are often caught in the mind of poverty, thinking only negative things like:
Ohh no! I don’t have this!
I don’t deserve this!
I am lacking this!
I can’t do this!
And much more. We usually forget given things.
Gratitude can help you come out of this, by rising up from pity things and actually focusing on good. It immediately brings you to present moment. Try it yourself. You will see that you are fully in to present.
How it has helped me ?
Going back to days when we were completely locked down due to covid. It was the worst time of my life.
I was not able to work. I was not able to focus on my health. I was lazy and unproductive all these things were taking troll on my mental health. I was on the verge of having eating disorder since, I am a foodie. Food came to rescue always. I gained 10kgs, which was very unlikely for me.
In 2021, I wrote in my vision board, Happy Mind! And started focusing on doing things for my soul. I ordered book Think like a Monk and started reading.
After reading the book, I tried few exercises which helped me but I was not able to continue them. After on and off journey, now gratitude is part of my life. It’s now a habit.
Gratitude has helped me to:
Have Compassion towards people
We are all judgemental, yes we all are even if we don’t accept it. But, I am more kind now even when thinking about someone. I have more compassion towards situation and people than before.
Shift perspective to good
Gratitude has helped me to be solution oriented person. It has helped to refocus my mind to:
What I have ?
Okay, here is the problem. But, how can I solve it? Instead of complaining, why not face it!
I am not where I want to be. But, how about look how far I have come?
There is one voice in my mind along with negative one, Hey! This is going good be grateful!
Be a happy person
It doesn’t require much to be happy. We often confuse being happy with being content. Keep working towards your goals but be happy with what you have. Gratitude has made me a jolly person not only from outside but from within.
Better relation with self
Have you ever written thank you note to your self? If your answer is no, I can understand because I wrote myself one just 2 months back.
We are with ourselves 24 hrs! How can we not focus on having good relationship with ourself?
We always congratulate people on achievements, why not do this for yourself too! If it hits you hard, pat your back for whatever you have been through and write that thank-you letter for standing up so strong! You will feel more connected to your self.
Gratitude has really changed me as a person. In my next article, I will discuss, problems I faced when I started and some practical tips on how to inculcate gratitude in your life.
Special thanks to Renuka Gavrani for inspiring me to start writing blog posts.
