3 Simple Tools to Incorporate More Gratitude into Your Life Today

Have you ever considered how different your life would be if you moved through your day choosing  to be grateful for everything and everyone who came across your path?

I’m not suggesting you sprinkle fairy dust and simply pretend everything is wonderful and perfect. What I am suggesting, however, is that you choose to wake up to your one precious life and appreciate every experience for what it is—an opportunity to grow and practice gratitude.

“If  the  only  prayer  you  ever  say  in  your  entire  life  is  thank  you,  it  will  be  enough.”—Meister Eckhart

This simple act of gratitude changes how you see the world. It changes how you move through it, and it increases your joy and satisfaction.

As a life coach, one of the first simple tools I share with every client is the Practice of Gratitude. When embarking on any journey of change, the first step is learning to say, ‘Thank You.’ Wake up and say, “Thank you God for the opportunity to live another day and to take another breath.”

When you are grateful, everything you have becomes enough. You’ll no longer look to the future for happiness; you’ll recognize the joy in this  moment. Once you start to express gratitude for the things in your life, you’ll experience a deep sense of peace come over you—you’ll start to see the beauty of what already surrounds you.

Frankly, if the only thing you ever do is to practice gratitude—that will be enough.

Whatever your situation is, don’t tolerate the frenetic pace of our culture to lure you into discontentment. Don’t get sucked into a whirlwind of unfulfilled desires. Choose to make time for a little introspection and give thanks for what you do have, and refuse to compare your life to anyone else’s. The key to a life of gratitude is the simple practice of appreciating what you already have.

Here are three Simple Tools to incorporate the Practice of Gratitude into your life today:

1. Get in the habit of saying, ‘Thank You’ when you first open your eyes every morning. Ask for the awareness to notice and appreciate the beauty and wonder that surrounds you.
2. Commit to keeping a Gratitude Journal. Keep it by your bedside and write down three things you are grateful for before you close your eyes each night. (You’ll sleep better too.)
3. Make it a practice to send a handwritten ‘Thank You Note’ once a week to someone who touched your life that week. The simple act of writing a note will exercise your gratitude muscle and strengthen your commitment to be aware of the many blessings in your life.

So, what are you grateful for?