The practice gratitude is a powerful and free way to start transforming your life and the world too. Let's get started today...
Why? Maybe gratitude isn’t necessarily the first thing you think of when it comes to transforming your life or the world. For many it isn’t even a common habit, but without gratitude, life is more challenging than it needs to be.
Studies have shown that if you express gratitude, it can raise your happiness levels by 25% and that helps improves your own mental, physical and emotional wellbeing but has a ripple out effect too.
On the scale of things...
In Dr David Hawkins book ‘Power vs Force’ he introduced a tool for measuring personal energy, the Vibrational Scale. The scale runs from 1 (lowest negative vibration) up to 1000 (maximum positive vibration - that of an enlightened master level).
The average personal vibration is around 207 due to negative beliefs and emotional blocks. At this level and below, diseases can manifest and we can experience illness, sadness, anger, guilt and other negative emotional states. At higher levels, we can experience happiness, prosperity peace, unconditional love and other positive states.
People who hold a higher vibration radiate positivity and love which is infectious to others therefore raising your vibration to 500 (the vibration of the emotion of love) or above will have a tremendous positive impact on your life and will impact the lives of everyone around you. According to Dr. Hawkins, when you are at a vibrational energy of 500, you can lift 750,000 people around you. When someone hits 700, they positively impact 70 million people!
So as you can see connecting into love, peace, and joy powerfully affects yourself and so many thousands around you!
Feeling grateful is one way to start raising your vibration by resetting your perspective and lifting you into love, peace and happiness. This is a gift you can give yourself each day. If you find yourself feeling pessimistic or overwhelmed, a little gratitude can create the shift and get you back on the way up.
Gratitude is free, enjoyable, and effective.
Practice gratitude each day with these actions:
- Write it down. Make a daily (or at least a weekly) habit of writing down a few things that you can be grateful about. If you’ll do this early or late in the day it help get your day off on a good footing or set you up for a good peaceful night of sleep.
- Be grateful for the little things. There are plenty of small things you can be grateful for each day. A great cup of coffee, the sound of birds in the morning, a rainbow whilst it raining to add a bit of colour or as a mummy for me there is always the undisturbed night of sleep!!! – all can all uplift your mood.
- Go for a gratitude walk. This is a great way to get out of your head. Go for a walk and look for things that you can be grateful for. A beautiful tree, frost covered leaves, the waggy tail of a friendly dog, or a nice, cool breeze are all things you could choose to feel gratitude about.
- Avoid making comparisons. When you compare one thing to another, you demean it. Be grateful for something exactly as it is. This applies to people and things.
- Tell people you’re thankful. Show people that you’re grateful by thanking them. Whether it’s smile or service you get from a cashier at the store, the 20th pebble your child has given you to put in your pocket which is bulging at the seams (I get this a lot! – I thank you for the child that can see the beauty in everything and share it). Be thankful and let them know about it.
- Enjoy time with friends or your pet. Give one or both some extra attention. You’ll both feel great. (And don’t forget tip 5 – here is a perfect place to show that gratitude.
- Donate your time or money. Give your resources to something that you think is valuable to the world. It could be a charity or other organization. Time and money can have a great impact.
- Make a list of things that impress you about yourself. Have a little gratitude for yourself, too. What are you impressed by when you take a long, hard look at yourself? You’ll not only be expressing gratitude, but you’ll also be doing wonders for your self-esteem.
- Write a positive review for a business you appreciate. Business owners love positive reviews. It makes them feel good and can boost their business. Be supportive and express your gratitude.
- Meditate on the things that you’re grateful for. Put your focus and attention on those things you’re most grateful for. You might develop an even greater appreciation for them.
- Minimize judging and complaining. Judging and complaining are the opposite of gratitude. People that do this aren’t enjoyable to be around, either. Keep your negative thoughts and opinions to yourself. Avoid judging others and you’ll find that you’re happier and less stressed.
- Be thankful at meal times. Since you eat at least one meal each day, this a great way to develop a habit of expressing gratitude. Be grateful for your food and the people sharing it with you. Whilst I was travelling in Nepal I stayed in a Monastery in Katmandu and before ate we paused for gratitude for the food and it made the most simplest of food taste amazing.
It may not always be easy to start...
It all begins with being grateful for everything you have. Even if you’re struggling to survive below the poverty level, here in the West you’re still living better than the vast majority of the world’s population. That doesn’t mean you have to be satisfied with your current situation and not take action to change it, but you can still be grateful for what you do have.
When you practice gratitude... Your mood and perspective will be lifted. Your opportunities for success will increase. And you’ll receive even more good things to be grateful for!
And for transparency this may be a little easier for me than some because my 4-4 soul plan energy helps me to easily connect with having an attitude of gratitude and positivity but for some it can be something that needs a little more effort but it is a transformational power that you already posses.