Tips for Practicing Gratitude

I know what it feels like to be the recipient of thanks & appreciation, so I always try be intentional & to say ‘Thank you!’ daily to people. I believe it’s important to also be specific & descriptive with compliments so people know exactly why you value them! This post considers the importance of giving thanks by considering the physical benefits of gratitude and then the practical ways we can embrace gratitude in our daily lives. We are all interconnected, valued & loved – its important to remind each other of this!

Remember to Say Thank You

‘ …be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.’ Titus 3:2 NIV

I am definitely a work in progress in regards to being considerate and gentle to everyone. This post was inspired by an article on UCB with the goal of help me in working towards a peaceful, considerate and gentle heart. I hope it does for you too!

The physical benefits of the emotional and spiritual act of gratitude

Gratitude offers multiple physical benefits that improve your body’s wellbeing. It enhances your heart’s blood flow, curtails stress, helps in the physical healing process and improves the clarity of your thoughts under pressure. It floods your body and brain with endorphins that strengthen and refresh you. Gratitude is a thought process that creates neural pathways in the brain. Like any muscle, or neural pathway, the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes, making the practice of gratitude far easier and more like a second nature. 

Tips for daily gratitude

Practicing is simple! Try some of these tips below and remember God’s blessings operate 24/7 – so whatever the circumstance, you’ll never be short of things to be grateful for. 

Go for a morning walk

Going for a morning walk and consider all your blessings. This will help set the tone for your day. The psalmist wisely advised, ‘Praise the Lord and do not forget all His kindnesses.’ (Psalm 103:2 NCV).

In the home

Dinner time is a great moment in the day where you can create family routine – for example, everyone eating together at the table, or saying grace, or informally sharing how their day was. But you could also utilise a short period of time over dinner to have each person name something they’re thankful for. This sets gratitude as a daily practice.

(You can find the recipe for the grilled barramundi and saucy salsa wraps pictured above here.)

Write and read a letter

Writing a letter of gratitude to friends or family can help them feel really empowered and valued, but it also leads to an increase in your contentment with what you have. A great example of the effect of saying thank you is the CEO of Campbell Soup who penned over sixteen thousand thank–you notes to his employees, and energised the entire company in the process. If it were of no enjoyment to him, I doubt he would have written over 16,000 letters – he could have just written to the managers. It also shows he understood the importance of expressing another’s value to them.

Verbal encouragement

Tell a friend or family member that you appreciate what they do. You may forget the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them for a lifetime. It might be the confidence they need to make a life-changing and positive decision. 

So who are you going to thank and remind that they are loved and valued today? How do you count your daily blessings?