Gratitude with a Twist

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Practicing gratitude is a life-giving way of living every day, with a special focus given to it on Thanksgiving. This week, I offer you four practices to consider adding into your gratitude practices and traditions.

As you celebrate a day of gratitude for the family, friends, and abundance in your lives, know that I am grateful for you. Hundreds of you open these emails each week and I appreciate you. I believe in the power of every practice I share with you and I believe in you. It is a gift to me when you share the impact a practice has had on your life. I am grateful for you and I sharing our time on the planet together.

Gratitude Conversations

Research in the field of neuroscience shows that our brain lights up with pleasure when we have a grateful thought and when we feel connected to others. You can feed your brain even more pleasure by combining these two things in a gratitude conversation.

Here are some prompts to ask your loved ones to get you started:

  • Who are three people you are grateful for knowing and why?

  • Describe the travel experience you are most grateful for?

  • What advice are you most grateful for receiving? As you reflect on it now, why was it important at that moment in your life?

  • What are you grateful for enduring that at the time you weren't sure you could?

  • Do you think we grow more grateful with age, or is it the opposite, and why do you think so?

  • What was the most impactful "thank you" that you have received?

Gratitude with Feeling

If you have a tradition of going around the table and naming something you are grateful for, add a fun twist of explaining how that thing/person/memory/experience makes you feel. When you connect a feeling to the thought, you feel even deeper levels of gratitude and contentment.

Here are some fill-in-the-blank prompts to get your gratitude wheels turning:

  • I am grateful for __________, because they make me feel ___________.

  • I am grateful for my ___________, because I feel ___________ when I see it.

  • I am grateful for this memory ___________, because when I think about it I feel __________.

  • I am grateful for ___________, which is important to me because ____________.

  • When I feel ____________, I am grateful that ____________.

Gratitude Journal with Reasons

The University of Southern California conducted a study examining the effectiveness of gratitude journalling.

They found that journaling about gratitude three times a week was sometimes more beneficial than doing it every day. It makes sense that journaling thoughtfully a few times per week is more effective than making a list every day with an obligatory mindset.

USC's research also found that levels of contentment, satisfaction, and happiness were higher in the study group that was asked to select one thing and describe why they were grateful for it than in the study group that was asked to list general things.

Here is a journal prompt for you based on this research:

  • At least three times a week, consider one person or thing you are grateful for. Then, list five reasons you are grateful for this person or thing. As you do this, think about the impact it has on your life and get as detailed as possible about how this person or thing makes you feel.

Gratitude for your Future Self

One way to forecast the future is to feel grateful for something before it happens. If there is something you are worried about or hoping will happen, here is a practice for you to try. Imagine your future self, after you have the outcome you desire, and express gratitude as if what you hoped for happened. Experiment with this until it feels authentic, then feel the relief from worry as you cast your vision for the future.

Here are some examples that might capture your circumstance:

  • I am grateful that [a problem] has been resolved.

  • I am grateful that I feel [desired feeling].

  • I appreciate that the solution to [ a challenge] appeared and now I have an answer.

  • I am relieved that I now have [something you desire].

  • I am grateful that [a person] is recovering and on their way to health again.

  • I feel peaceful knowing [a person] is peaceful.

  • I am grateful that I see progress and healing from [illness or injury].

  • I am grateful to be filled with hope.

  • I appreciate the help I have received.

  • I feel grateful for the freedom I now feel.

  • I appreciate the work it took to get to [accomplishment] and I'm glad I stayed dedicated.

  • I am grateful that life turned out the way I had hoped it would.

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” -Meister Eckhart

Thank you,