Having an Attitude of Gratitude

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Having an Attitude of Gratitude

Every thanksgiving as we sit down to a seasonal feast we offer our thanks. For many of us it’s the only time we pause to express gratitude.”Thankyou”  isn’t just a figure of speech-honoring it’s meaning can actually improve your well-being. We might be much happier  if we expressed an attitude of gratitude more often.

In a 2003 study Robert A. Emmons, PHD, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis found that those that kept a gratitude journal experienced more optimism, and had healthier habits than those that recorded struggles or neutral life events. Life coach Cheryl Richardson and  author of The Unmistakable Touch of Grace says-It’s easy to weave thankfulness into your life. “For instance when you cook a meal or brush your teeth, list the things for which your grateful,” She suggests.

Lists like these deepen your awareness of life’s blessings and also help you have an attitude of gratitude towards others. “To thank someone with meaning is an intimate experience,” Says Richardson. “Expressing and receiving gratitude is essential to strengthening relationships.”

Building stronger bonds is not the only benefit to becoming more grateful. Cultivating a greater sense of gratitude lifts your mood even when you are going through the most challenging time. A grateful heart is like a magnet, attracting more abundance, support, and things to be grateful for.

Attitude of Gratitude-Improve how you feel about your finances

Focus on what you do have and not what you are lacking. Sometimes when we are so focused on wishing we had more money it’s easy to overlook our blessings.

Here is a list of three ways your perspective will change about  finance when you focus on an attitude of gratitude:

->It makes us unlikely to feel envy, because you’re grateful for what you have

->It makes it easier for us to live within our means

->It makes it easier for us to be generous to others

Attitude of Gratitude-Turn around a negative mood

Having an attitude of gratitude and focusing on the things we are most grateful for can turn around a negative mood. When we count our blessings it is powerful to the point of life altering. Having an attitude of gratitude is that nice warm feeling of thankfulness in your heart. It allows you to see and absorb all you have, forgetting for a moment all that you may lack.

“Gratitude feels so good because it is the state of mind closest to your natural state in which you were born to live.”-Abraham-Hicks

Bob Proctor says it best: “Gratitude is an attitude that hooks us up to our source of supply. And the more grateful you are, the closer you become to your maker, to the architect of the universe, to the spiritual core of your being. It’s a phenomenal lesson.“-Bob Proctor

May we all start having an attitude of gratitude.

Kari St. Louis