How to Apply Gratitude to Self Growth Today

Studies show gratitude makes a difference in helping people grow. There’s a field called positive psychology studying in a scientific way what makes life worth living.

It’s a way of looking at strengths, to build yourself up in ways that are particularly useful for business startup.

And gratitude has been demonstrated in study after study to deliver benefits that build the best in people. Including in fulfillment. That's why gratitude is a good place to begin.

I believe in play.

In each moment! As well as in this article to boost you forward on your path today.

Practicing gratitude helps me. Especially when I practice in playful ways.

And it does take practice.

I sit down with a timer for 15-minutes as a core part of that practice. That aspect began in 2009 as part of Fr. Bill Watson's PhD study.

Those 15-minutes guide me in a positive way.

Not just during those 15-minutes! Though each of those moments of practice are critical.

I find that my investment of those moments daily leads directly to the next day's appreciation. Because I get in the habit of noticing the good surrounding me in my life.

One tiny singular bit at a time. Now, the sun shining through the window as I type this, to share me and my experience with you, dear reader.

Gratitude can enrich your life.

For example, when you experience feelings of gratefulness that well up at a beam of sunshine, that boosts you momentarily.

How does that bit of gratitude enrich your day?

Here's the thing: you tend to slip into action and begin to review other good things that are happening for you.

Such as my opportunity here and now to write something that may impact your day, today, as you read this... much later.

Recognizing tiny opportunities helps with relaxation and tends to lift you up a bit. I encourage you to look around for a moment, and pick something you have not appreciated recently.

For example, perhaps I picked the sunshine's beam of light because I was not well enough to go out yet today. And maybe that will help me to get out for my walk, to get out amongst people who may lift me up or bless me in their own way for today.

What did you pick just now? Yes, really. Do it. Now.

Then look deeper into that for why you may have noticed it mattered to you. And find a potential opportunity to lift yourself up by a simple action.

For me? Yes, going outside... a mini walk now.

You see, reviewing good that you’ve experienced helps you notice the best parts of your life. And act on them!

It helps you see positive aspects in the bad things that may happen, too. Such as the lessons you learn that bring good out of whatever "that" was!

Because when you’re in the habit of looking for good, you find the lessons more readily.

And then the good is yours. As is more gratitude, it seems, for the action that follows tends to bring another bit of appreciation that leads to another action!

Even when it’s mixed in with other things you may not appreciate quite as much!

In this way, I allowed myself to search for and find what I could be grateful for both from the lesson learned in the moment (I need to go out in that sunshine now!) as well as the good that can come my way from action (fresh air and more sunshine?).

That’s simply because when you get in the habit of looking for the good in things, you get in the habit of finding them.

That pattern has a clue to life, too.

Gratitude teaches you how to be persistent.

Finding the good helps you feel grateful.

That keeps the attitude of gratitude close to your heart.

Seeing the cycle through which gratitude can enrich your life gives hints to other cycles in your life.

Good feelings.

Better things slipping into your life.

Finding the good turns up surprises!

And that can be delightful.

Because you get a positive attitude.

Your mindset changes to growth and seeking persistent growth throughout your moments.

In gratitude, you begin to realize there are so many tiny opportunities tucked in every day.

When you’re looking for the good, you tend to pay attention and find yet one more good you appreciate that you might not otherwise have seen.

I’ve learned that you can compound the impact of gratitude by writing down what you’re grateful for.

Simply.

Not in a fussy way. Not in a busy way.

For me, after my 15-minute timer goes off, I quickly jot down one, two or three things to remind me of the day.

One of my "in twenty-five words or less" things to do! Perhaps that's a habit from teaching computer science and not having lots of time for grading...

You learn a thing, you apply it in other ways, and you gain gratitude that follows you over the decades from one simple thing you're grateful for.

Yes, for decades. You. Because you could live 100+ years. Let's make our moments matter, as we continue to learn how to apply gratitude to self growth today.

blessings,
Cynthia A

Leighton

P.S. Studies demonstrate that when you write down things that you’re grateful for, the impact is longer lasting. That’s true for simple lists you jot down on scraps of paper that you may never read again. As well as for jou
als you may keep a little bit more formally.

P.P.S. Studies show that gratitude makes a difference in people’s lives. I encourage you to consider how gratitude might fit into your life today.