How to Bring Gratitude into Your Life
To begin bringing gratitude into your life, you can deliberately
meditate on all the
things in your own life that help you or give you pleasure. You can also write
a gratitude diary, posting pictures and writing about the things you feel
grateful for each day. The holidays are a great time to express your gratitude
to friends and family by writing cards and exchanging thoughtful, personal
gifts. Baking cookies for neighbors or sharing food with the poor are other ways
to express appreciation for the abundance of food that we have in this country.
Gratitude can lead to feelings of love, appreciation,
generosity, and compassion, which further open our
hearts and help rewire our brains to fire in more positive ways.
Experiencing and expressing
gratitude is an important part of any
spiritual practice.
It opens the heart and activates positive emotion centers in the
brain. Regular
practice of gratitude can change the way our brain neurons fire into more
positive automatic patterns. The positive emotions we evoke can soothe distress
and broaden our thinking patterns so we develop a larger and more expansive view
of our lives. Gratitude is an emotion of connectedness, which reminds us we are
part of a larger universe with all living things. Below are some of my favorite
quotes about gratitude to help inspire you and deepen your thinking about
finding an enduring place for gratitude in your own life.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201111/the-seven-best-gratitude-quotes
