Have you ever felt like you ran out of things to be grateful for? Everyday you seem to repeat the same things in your gratitude journal and not feel as grateful.
That’s why I am writing this blog post where I will share 3 things you can do that will definitely make you feel more grateful. Plus these 3 things will improve your life and make it better.
Before I list the 3 things and explain it, I would like to share a story.
2 months ago, I was feeling very bored and unmotivated. I also wasn’t taking care of my body and was overeating and not following a routine.
So my family and I went to Gangtok, which is a place in the Sikkim state in India. There we saw snow and went to places high up in the cloudy mountains.
We saw Nathula pass, Changu lake and Baba mandir. We also went to Darjeeling where we saw Tiger Hill, and many other places of which I forgot their names. We had a lot of fun.
When I came back home, I felt very motivated. And started to take care of myself, my body, my mind and my daily routine.
I saw a video by a girl on YouTube (thewizardliz). And I was inspired.
I bought a bathing loofah and a back scrubber and a face wash. And I used them daily to keep myself clean. I still do.
I bought a yoga mat and started doing freehand exercises. I still do them.
I started living a self-loving life. And my life, and my mental health improved. Every area of my life from studying, to health, to peace of mind, moods, to anger issues, to motivation, all of them improved.
What I want to convey through this story is that although gratitude is a feeling, gratitude could also be an action or a habit that is oriented towards values like gratitude, honesty, kindness, cleanliness, friendship, positivity, persistence and so on.
It doesn’t have to be just about writing 3 things in a gratitude journal. It can be more than that. It can be an action or a habit.
Now I would like to give you the 3 ways or habits or actions that will make you feel more grateful for a better life-
- Cleaning Your Room Regularly– We know the saying “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. Cleaning your room will make you feel more positive, more decluttered and it will also make you feel grateful when you do it with a mindset of gratitude.
Ask yourself (and I am taking this key idea from Marie Kondo’s book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”) if the thing that you want to keep or remove while decluttering, will spark joy.
This is a new idea I got from brainstorming. I myself have done it. It feels very positive and grateful and it is also productive. I also see it as a way of making myself more positive. - Read An Inspirational Biography– I read biographies and I feel we can learn many things from them. Learning from the lives of people whom we assume as superficial can be eye-opening.
I am currently reading Tim Cook’s biography and I am shocked by how much struggle Tim Cook had to face. Just from his childhood, there is a lot to learn.
I used to think of Tim Cook as a superficial person who went to good schools and whose family had a lot of money from the start. But that’s not the truth.
I mean there’s a lot to learn about life from biographies. And it will help you feel more grateful when you do it consistently.
Even if you read just for 15 minutes everyday, it will be worth it. The key is to approach reading through the lens of curiosity.
I feel extremely grateful to get to learn about Tim Cook’s life. - Daily Journaling– I write in a journal daily,whether digital or paper journal. I love to write.
Although it may seem obvious that most people do gratitude journaling. So of course you might be journaling already. But here I am not talking just about gratitude journaling.
I am talking about consistent journaling about everything from your feelings to your stories to how your day went and so on.
You will definitely feel grateful once you approach journaling through the lens of self-improvement.
Re-reading your journal once a week or more frequently is important. It is important for healing and feeling grateful.
There could be more ways but these are some things I do myself and that’s why I shared them.
I see these activities as a commitment to my belief in myself.
Swami Vivekananda taught me to believe in myself. And he also said,”You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself”.
So first you must believe in yourself. All the ways I shared will strengthen your belief in yourself because you are essentially doing self-care and living a routine lifestyle through these habits.
I also believe that gratitude is a way of seeing the world. It’s not about thinking 10 things to be grateful for. It’s about being grateful even if something bad happens to you.
Can you be grateful even when you lose a leg or when your girlfriend leaves you? Can you be grateful when you don’t get the result you want?
It’s easy to feel grateful when you are doing well. But to do the same for the opposite condition should be the ideal goal.
So I share with you three ways to feel more grateful for a better life and I also share with you a new perspective of gratitude.
Please comment on what you will do to feel more grateful every day?
