Have we lost a meaningful appreciation for the true spirit of thankfulness and gratitude? And what do they really mean anyway, aren’t they the same thing?

Emotion And Attitude

Gratitude comes from the Latin word gratus, which means “thankful, pleasing.”

Thankfulness is an emotional response. It’s easy to feel thankful for happy news, a desired gift, or an answer to prayer. Thankfulness can be a feeling that fades with time because it’s based on temporary situations and circumstances.

Gratitude, on the other hand, is a value – a standard; it’s a way of life. “Where thankfulness is an emotion, gratitude is an attitude of appreciation under any circumstance. Gratitude involves being thankful, but it is more than that. Gratitude means expressing thankfulness and being appreciative of life daily even when nothing exciting happens.”

So much about life boils down to the power of choice, beginning with what we choose to focus on, but, as importantly, what we choose not to focus on. Willie Nelson said his life turned around the day he started counting his blessings.

Living With A Gratitude Attitude Is A Choice

Choosing not to focus on life’s inconveniences, being slighted or treated unfairly, or on our loss, pain, and regret doesn’t make them magically go away. But focusing on our blessings makes us a bit more appreciative and life a little less gloomy and a little more joyful.

Focusing on our losses, failings, and problems is a choice; it’s an attitude – a mindset orientation that fills our lives with restriction, stress, and misery, but a gratitude attitude ignites hope, making life a blessing to ourselves and others.

Search For Your Blessing

We always have a choice: We can focus on the darkness or the silver lining that’s embedded within the darkness.

We can let whatever is happening to us ruin our day, week, month, or year. Or we can take a deep, grounding breath and find the blessing buried in the burden.

But here’s something even better than that: create a blessing from the dark valley or heavy, perhaps even soul-crushing burden.

Who says you have to search for a blessing? Isn’t that assuming one is there? Why leave something so important to chance?

Create Your Blessing

Why not choose to create a blessing instead?

Gratitude isn’t just an attitude that chooses to count blessings instead of burdens.

Gratitude is an attitude that chooses to create blessings.

Gratitude is living with vision – seeing what’s right with life instead of what’s wrong with it.

Gratitude is miraculous. It’s not just thanking God for what He’s done but thanking Him in advance for what He’s about to do.

When you use gratitude to make the most and the best of every situation, you create happiness for yourself and free yourself to live your joy, even when tears are streaming down your cheeks.

That, my friend, is a special kind of superpower, and you become a hero for yourself and the world around you.

Consider this inspirational insight on gratitude from Melody Beattie:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

“Gratitude makes things right.

“Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude’s power. We can start with who we are and what we have today, apply gratitude, then let it work its magic.

“Say thank you, until you mean it. If you say it long enough, you will believe it.”

Or, as the Apostle Paul said, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, NASB.)

Happy Thanksgiving, today, tomorrow, and always.

The post To Be Thankful, Or, To Be Grateful? appeared first on Lifestyle.

Imagine how life would be if we were more patient, gracious, understanding, and kind, and much less critical and judgmental because we’re in this together; everybody deals with pain and hurt.

The world would be much brighter if we showed more compassion and empathy instead of blurting out hostilities whenever feeling irritated or offended.

It could all start with greeting passersby with a pleasant smile to encourage them and brighten their day. 

By the way, smiling and looking for the silver lining is one of the best ways to rise above difficult times. Here are five more: 

Play The Long Game

Bad “times” seem to last forever! It doesn’t help that the news, and society as a whole, tend to focus on everything that’s going wrong.

They make the future look gloomy, menacing, and hopeless. Why? Because they want your attention.

They’re not worth listening to; tune them out, and persevere patiently because better days are on the way!

Bad times never last, even though they seem to stretch on forever! Remind yourself that this, too, shall pass.

Play the long game and have faith in yourself. 

Remember Your Strengths

No one is perfectly balanced or well-rounded; we all have strengths and weaknesses. It’s so tempting to focus on our shortcomings and flaws when struggling through difficult times. 

But all that does is disempower you, making you feel helpless and at the mercy of your circumstances and incapable of rising above your problems. 

Focus on your strengths to deal with self-doubt! And stop comparing yourself to others while you’re at it.

Reclaim your power and confidence; stop giving it away.

Honor Your Progress

One of the ways to make it through difficult times is to measure how far you’ve come! Maybe you’re not where you want to be but guess what? You’re not where you were either! You’re making progress.

At the very least, you’re wiser from everything you’ve learned. You have more experience and are more resourceful! 

You’re better, stronger, and more insightful.

By honoring your progress and celebrating your journey, you break free from a sense of learned helplessness to motivate yourself to take inspired action toward your dreams and goals.

Count Your Blessings NOT Your Burdens 

Everyone has dark days and goes through difficult times. But gratitude makes those moments less gloomy.

It’s easy to focus on our problems, pain, and loss, but it’s hard to feel depressed and grateful simultaneously. When going through difficult times, count your blessings, not your burdens. You might have a few problems, but not everything about your life is terrible; there are some good things – some bright spots! Choose to focus on those. Be grateful for the things that are going well in your life.

If you’re going through difficult times in one or two areas of your life, look at the areas where things are going well! Maybe you’re having relationship problems, but your career is solid, and it’s putting food on the table and a roof over your head.

Maybe things aren’t going so great at work, but you have good health and even greater friends who love and support you. 

And what about life’s simple pleasures that we fail to appreciate? Like a beautiful sunrise, flowers, smiles, relaxing walks in the evening air, or your favorite dessert. 

When you change your perspective to be grateful, things don’t seem as bad. 

Grow from Your Experiences & Setbacks

How you define what’s happening to you makes all the difference. You can believe yourself to be a failure who’s made a mess of everything, or you can learn and grow from your “mistakes.”

A wise person gives thoughtful contemplation to their life so they can grow and improve. 

Use mistakes as feedback to make course adjustments. Trial and error is a part of life. 

Learning that you’re going in the wrong direction isn’t the problem. Choosing to keep going in the wrong direction is the issue.

Evaluate your life – your beliefs, actions, feelings, and choices – to figure out why certain things are happening to you so you can learn and do something about it. With time, you’ll be able to turn your life around. 

Everybody goes through dark valleys, but you have a lot to do with how long it takes before you see the light again and reach the other side.

The post 5 Ways To Endure Life’s Trying Times appeared first on Lifestyle.

According to an NBC news poll earlier this year, 87% of people said that rising costs of basic necessities are a significant source of stress. They also admitted that being besieged by one unrelenting crisis after another the past two years has affected their mental health negatively. 

Within that same group, sixty-five percent reported feeling worried and stressed about the economy and money. (Keep in mind the poll was conducted in mid-February when respondents were “overwhelmingly concerned” with finances and inflation; that was eight months ago; interest rates, inflation, and prices have soared steadily higher ever since.)

People are feeling a lot more stress and a lot less happiness than ever before, which, when you think about it, is a perfect storm for misery and darkness.

For many people, the pursuit of happiness and the American Dream feel out of reach now more than ever, as anxiety and panic erode peace of mind, and stress and worry replace hope and joy. 

In a word, people feel uncertain and depleted emotionally. 

Replenishing Emotional Reserves

It’s impossible to replenish our emotional reserves by trying to control what we can’t control.  

We can’t control the Federal Reserve’s next decision…

We can’t control the price of groceries or gas…

We can’t control inflation…

But we can choose how we want to feel this moment, at least for a few minutes at a time. We can take a quick break from fear, worry, and panic every day. 

How? By setting aside a few minutes to be grateful for something. 

Someone said it’s hard to be angry and afraid when feeling grateful; gratitude and fear can’t coexist. 

Admittedly, gratitude isn’t the only thing we could or should do to improve our immediate situation. But the few minutes of peace we create for ourselves by feeling grateful eases feelings of stress, fear, and anxiety, giving us emotional “breathing room” to see opportunities that we didn’t see before because we felt stressed or afraid. 

Taking A Break From Worry and Fear 

Gratitude is a feeling, an attitude, and a habit. 

Being a person of gratitude and thanksgiving is a way of life.

A grateful person doesn’t wait for things to be “perfect” before being grateful; first, they are grateful, and then things get better. 

Gratitude And The Mind-Body Connection

Researchers are beginning to realize the emotional and well-being benefits of being and feeling grateful. 

Gratitude is more than making a list of things we’re thankful for.

Choosing to be grateful is choosing to have an optimistic, gratitude-based outlook. Being grateful isn’t something we do; it’s an identity – it’s who we choose to be. By choosing to be grateful we tend to feel grateful.  

Here are some of the many benefits of being, feeling, and expressing gratitude.

The Mental Health Benefits Of Gratitude 

An article on gratitude written by Mary Kate Lee, published on the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs website, says: 

“Emerging evidence shows there may be an alternative approach to battling anxiety and depression without the side effects of medication: Gratitude. Although more research is needed to explore the direct effects of gratitude on the alleviation of mental strife, there is strong indication that gratitude can improve symptoms for those suffering with anxiety and depression… There are many individual benefits one may experience by being grateful, including improved physical and psychological health, increased happiness, life satisfaction, positive mood, meaning in life, and quality of sleep. Trait gratitude is also linked to a more positive outlook on life, increased optimism and hope, and having a more positive interpretation of social situations. Grateful people tend to view adversity as an opportunity for growth, which can increase resilience. This positive perspective may prevent one from hyper-focusing on thoughts or experiences, which can lead to decreased depression and anxiety over time. Experiencing gratitude can also keep a person grounded in the present, leading to increased mindfulness. People are more likely to be generous, kind, and helpful when they are grateful. This can strengthen relationships and improve workplace environments.” 

Practicing gratitude shifts our focus from the worst possible outcomes to looking for opportunities and blessings instead. 

Mary Kate Lee continues, “Gratitude is connected to systems of the brain that regulate emotions and support stress relief, such as heart rate, arousal levels, and pain. When activated, these areas of the brain can boost positive emotions and protect against feelings of anxiety and stress, leading to an overall calmer mood.”

By practicing the habit of gratitude we are transformed into a person of gratitude.

Scientists have recorded increased levels of dopamine and serotonin after intentional gratitude meditations. 

Gratitude just might be the happy pill we’ve been looking for!

The Physical Benefits Of Gratitude 

The release of “feel-good” hormones (happy hormones) affects us physically. 

Gratitude reduces stress. When feelings of stress, worry, anxiety, or panic are reduced, guess what happens? We sleep better, and our blood pressure lowers; as a result, we feel better physically and have more energy. 

People who feel better tend to live better, increasing overall physical well-being. 

For instance, if you feel better about yourself and your life and are more energetic, you’re more likely to practice healthier habits. For example, you might feel like taking a walk outside. The fresh air will flood your bloodstream with calm-inducing oxygen; your body will soak up vitamin D from the sunshine; and your brain will release the “happy hormone” serotonin.  

You’ll feel better, sleep better, and make better choices. 

Who would’ve thought that something as simple as being grateful could help turn us into a healthier, happier, and stronger version of ourselves? 

Furthermore, having less stress and lower blood puts less strain on the heart; the increased physical activity fosters restful sleep and strengthens the heart. It’s a health-inducing cycle.

Gratitude is one of the most powerful things we can do to feel happier, more hopeful, and stronger. 

8 Ways To Have Greater Happiness & Peace With Gratitude

Here are some ideas to feel happier and have more peace with gratitude: 

1. Create a morning gratitude routine where you think of at least one to three people or things you’re deeply grateful for as soon as you wake up to set the tone for your day.

2. Send a thank you card to someone who did something nice for you.

3. Send a note encouraging someone going through a tough time.

4. Meditate on one of the many faith-building promises in the Bible.

5. Make time for meaningful social connections regularly.

6. Share your worries, wants, and concerns with God.

7. Journal about your situation; find something good. It could be worse than it is, but it isn’t. Someone once said, “If you can’t find something to be thankful for, then be thankful for something you don’t have that you don’t want!”

8. Imagine how things could be better. What are one or two things you could do to improve your situation? Set a goal and start improving your life; you’ll feel empowered and more in control.

No one is denying that we’re living in difficult times. Gratitude isn’t an avoidance tactic where you stick your head in the sand and hope for the best. On the contrary! Gratitude is planting your flag in the ground and declaring, “This is how I choose to live! I refuse to be bullied by fear and uncertainty. And I’ll settle for nothing less than the best life I deserve and am willing to work for!”

Unleash the power of gratitude in your life today!

The post 8 Ways to Fight Uncertainty & Fear With Gratitude appeared first on Lifestyle.

If you’re someone who feels on top of the world and abundantly blessed, you don’t need to finish reading this post; enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday. 

But, if your grip is weakening because regret, loneliness, and emptiness are begining to frost over your hope, please keep reading. 

Two Choices

Let’s get real for a minute. We have two choices: we can give up, or we can endure. 

We can choose to focus on what we’ve lost or on what we can become. One perspective prolongs the pain; the other begins the healing process.  

Thankfully, most people choose to endure, especially during the holidays, according to the CDC. Let’s be one of them. 

Misfortune, calamity, and distress can be a time of profound personal growth. We have the power to take charge of adversity and make it serve us; although unwanted, pain can be one of life’s greatest teachers. 

Here are five reasons we can choose to be grateful for adversity this Thanksgiving so that it’s a blessing instead of a curse.   

Self-Awareness

Few things have the power to put us in tune with our feelings and desires more honestly than adversity if we let it. 

Facing misfortune causes us to reflect on our beliefs and feelings. Loss and hardship tend to reveal the driving forces behind our thoughts, decisions, and actions.  

Adversity creates the opportunity for deep self-reflection.

It forces us to examine our values, beliefs, needs, wants, desires, and actions, especially those that contributed to the painful experience if any. 

Self-reflection is a chance to grow, improve, and reaffirm or tweak our purpose and calling. 

Adversity teaches us the benefit of being self-aware in both good times and bad, so we’ll have fewer “bad” times in the future or navigate them more effectively. 

Patient Endurance

Adversity builds patience and endurance because hardship is rarely in a rush; it sticks around for a while – it can be grueling.

Adversity teaches us endurance. 

We learn to take charge of our emotions while we endure the darkness. We gain self-control and discipline along the way too.

Resilience

Resilience is our ability to bounce back after hardship. Facing and overcoming adversity boosts resilience. 

According to a study cited by WebMD in 2011, the mental health and well-being of approximately 2000 people were tracked for several years. Participants had faced events such as divorce, loss, or natural disasters that occurred before the study began. Also tracked were any adverse events that occurred during the study.

The study concluded that people who face and endure hardships are generally happier with life later because they learned how to overcome adversity, developed coping strategies, identified support networks, and gained the confidence needed to persevere when facing adversity later on. 

Healthier Relationships

Adversity and hardship can strain relationships, but people often learn that adversity creates an environment where relationships can grow and strengthen. 

People are “forced” to pool resources and figure things out when things aren’t going well. They lean on each other for encouragement and strength as they work together to overcome the challenge. They communicate, open up, share, and are usually more transparent and supportive. 

Wisdom and Knowledge

Through adversity, we gain information and learn skills. We become wiser and more knowledgeable. Hardship forces us to become solution-focused so we can solve problems and overcome setbacks and challenges. 

We learn to identify the problem or challenge, find resources, analyze possible solutions, and implement options. Through hardship, we learn problem-solving skills, analytical skills, research skills, among others.

Closing Thoughts

Look, no one wants hardship or adversity. But life happens. So, what are you going to do? Quit, or endure?  We have the power to transform adversity into a blessing. We can use it to grow beyond our limits and what’s possible. Because of misfortune, we can develop self-awareness, patience, resilience, knowledge, and strong relationships that help us unlock our best life, in both good times and “bad.”  

The post 5 Reasons To Be Grateful For Adversity appeared first on Lifestyle.

Maybe we do it because it makes us feel more in control…or because we want everything to be perfect. Whatever the reason, here are four ways people make life way harder than it has to be.

Do you have unrealistic goals in life?

Who sets our goals? Well, we do!

We control our expectations and goals.

Setting unrealistic or unachievable goals makes life harder.

Sometimes we set unrealistic goals when trying to escape a painful situation, or when we get really excited about something!

Life gets a little bit easier when we take time to count our blessings and live each day from a place of gratitude.

Gratitude breeds contentment, and it helps us to enjoy the journey, too.

Being grateful and content, while intentionally working to improve your life through small, daily actions, creates a much different quality of life than being worried and stressed out all of the time, trying to escape a situation.

Living with a sense of peace makes life easier. Living with sense of panic makes it harder.

Counting your blessings and taking consistent action towards reaching your goals makes life easier. Period.

Do you compare yourself with others?

Social media can be a blessing or a curse. It quickly becomes toxic when we compare ourselves to others.

Keep in mind that people on social media rarely glorify their failures.

Usually, when someone posts something on Facebook or Instagram, it’s their best moments.

Why would we ever compare ourselves to that? It makes no sense, plus it makes life so much more difficult.

Someone may look glamorous in a photo they posted, but what does their life look like off camera?

Strive to become YOUR best; live your life, not someone else’s. There will always be someone richer, smarter, and better looking (remember beauty is in the eyes of the beholder).

The ONLY person you should compare yourself to is your former self.

Look at how far you’ve come, how much you’ve improved, and who you are now.

Are you scared to take risks?

Comfort zones. We all have them…and we like staying in them. We tend to be risk-averse; it’s our nature.

But, do you ever feel stuck, trapped, or in a self-made prison?

Maybe taking a few well-calculated risks is just what the doctor ordered.

We need to will ourselves to step beyond our comfort zones because that’s where we learn and grow, and where life becomes less monotonous and more exciting.

What kind of risks are we talking about?

Are we talking about throwing caution to the wind and finding a mountain to climb and jump off? Maybe. But probably not, especially if it’s your first mountain and first-ever base jump.

There are other risks, though. Scarier ones. Sometimes to make our lives better we have to risk being rejected by people, or risk losing money by making calculated investments. Or, it could be starting over in a new place where no one knows you, but you do it anyway because you need a fresh start.

Are you taking risks or playing it safe?

Set one or two simple short-term goals to improve some part of your life. Once you overcome that challenge, set higher goals; take more risks.

We make life harder when we insist on living within the safety of our comfort zones.

Do you attribute hostile intentions?

When someone does something that hurts you, do you believe it’s because they intended to?

Most people don’t intend to harm you intentionally.

We make life more difficult when we assign bad intentions to people’s actions towards us.

Do you think that your partner is ignoring you? Think of it this way: Maybe they’re just tired or preoccupied with something at work. Remind yourself that your partner would never do anything intentionally to hurt you.

The person who cut you off in traffic could be out of work and is rushing to a job interview – he or she didn’t do it to make you mad.

Life gets really hard when we take things personally all the time. The world isn’t out to get us. Sometimes things happen out of coincidence.

Attributinng hostile intent will only make you feel angry, hurt, or sad.

Now let’s summarize what we discussed: Learn to worry less about others’ intentions towards you; they’re dealing with their own stuff and aren’t being malicious.

Learn to take intelligent risks, take chances, and set realistic goals. Life won’t get better until we change our habits. Want a fulflling life? Step out of your comfort zone.

And, lastly, please don’t ever compare yourself to anyone else; it’ll make you feel miserable. Be grateful for your blessings, and have a vision for a better life.

Image by Elias Sch. from Pixabay

The post 4 Ways You’re Making Life Harder Than It Has To Be appeared first on Lifestyle.

You’re probably wondering what gratitude has to do with your physical health. Well, it turns out that being grateful about the little things helps you make better decisions for your health. You are likelier to eat healthy meals, exercise and get regular checkups.

Willpower

Counting blessings boosts willpower, helping you not give in to your impulses. So, when you start feeling overwhelmed and your willpower is failing, take a moment to list three things for which you’re thankful because it boosts resolve.

This works because counting your blessings clears your mind and shifts your focus away from whatever it is that you’re craving. So, the next time you find yourself drooling for that second piece of pie or wanting to buy something on impulse, practice gratitude.

Relaxation

If you have trouble winding down and falling asleep, try counting blessings instead of sheep! Psychologists actually recommend writing your gratitude list before you go to bed because “happy thoughts” soothe your nervous system by reducing levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, and increasing levels of the happiness hormone, serotonin.

This technique also helps you think clearly and increases mental productivity. This is important because stress suppresses your ability to analyze problems.

Relationships

Highly grateful people have better friendships and more social support. They also receive more help from others and are likelier to help others.

There is a strong connection between our relationships and health. Specifically, studies show that strong social connections boost immunity. This is because people who have good relationships with the people around them tend to feel less stressed, which strengthens their immune system.

Simplest Way to Practice Gratitude

A gratitude journal is the easiest way to practice gratitude daily. Before going to bed, list at least three things that went well that day and reasons why you think they went well. They don’t have to be big, game-changing things. It can be a compliment that you received from someone or the fact that you were on time for an appointment. Listing the things you’re grateful for may seem awkward at first but within a couple of weeks it becomes a habit that happens naturally.

When feeling overwhelmed, it’s very easy to get caught up in the details of what went wrong and why. You can stop this frustrating cycle and lift your spirits instantly by thinking of three things for which you are grateful.

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