Gratitude Meaning and Ways to Develop It 

Various studies and researches emphasize that there is no alternative to positive thinking to live the happiest and most successful life. Those who are positive inside live a healthy life. They can easily manifest what they want to do with their life. In another article, we know about positive thinking, a stage of positive psychology. And today in this article we will understand gratitude which is the first stage of practising positive thinking.  

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is a positive emotion that you feel in the moment. Which involves being thankful and appreciative of what you have. An optimist or a positive thinker experiences gratitude when they feel grateful for something or someone in their life with the response with such a feeling like kindness, warmth or any other form of generosity. 

Gratitude can have various meanings depending on the person or the user and its context. But no question could stand in the matter of the benefit of gratitude in our life and well-being. 

"Gratitude blocks toxic emotions, such as envy, resentment, regret, and depression, which can destroy our happiness."

                             -ROBERT EMMONS, PROF. AT UC DAVIS

Gratitude turns what we have into enough

Express gratitude can happen in various ways. Such as,

• If you are paying attention to every small thing in your life that brings you joy and peace seems like you are experiencing gratitude. 
• If you are cultivating positive emotions which have a part to take care of your physical health and you are being thankful for your health that means you are feeling gratitude. 
• When you are spending some time about the things in your life and you are grateful for them then you are in a state of experiencing gratitude.  
• Thanking someone for their positive influence in your life is a sign of experiencing gratitude.   

How to Cultivate Gratitude

Gratefulness or Gratitude isn't difficult or impossible to develop. As it is the most important part to acquire positive thinking, researchers have emphasised various ways to practice it. The more you put yourself into a thankful state of mind the better you will become. Here's some way to do this:

Being at The Moment:   

We have a different life and different reality. There is so much happening in our everyday life that we forget to feel, sense or think anything or anyone. This is where gratitude work. In order to have a gratitude state of mind we have to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness explains the way to be present in the moment. When we experience something grate or someone has done something good for us. You need to take a second and think about how you are feeling or how thankful you are for his doing. In this way every day we will become more positive and more grateful. If you want to learn how to be more present, you have to let go of things which you think should be and accept them as they are. You have to accept that you cannot control everything that happens around you and life could be different than how you want it to be. 

Take a Journal:

It will be helpful to start a gratitude journal, where you can note down a few things you are thankful for or when you are struggling with every day. By doing this you will be able to observe your grateful and stressful mind state. Spend a few minutes every day to write about something grateful. There is no need to be a long or short or complex process. Just listing two or three things each day and focusing on gratitude for them can help. By going through this process you will be experiencing decreased emotional exhaustion or depression and improve daily life balance and overall happiness day by day. In short, keeping a gratitude journal will increase your self-esteem. 

Showing Gratitude:

Gratitude is all about the behaviour of being thankful and readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Give yourself time for recognizing and appreciating those moments, things, events or peoples that brings you joy, peace or comfort in your lives. You might thank yourself for the moment which makes you feel grateful or you might thank a person for their kind accompany. Allowing yourself to express gratefulness to others makes you take a particular space in others' minds. Expressing your thankfulness for others can affect your interpersonal relationships. To improve the quality and satisfaction of your relationships there is no other aspect but gratitude.       

Compare Experiences:

Comparing your current situations to negative experiences in the past is another way to increase gratitude. By doing this you will realize your strength which helped you to carry on through those crucial events and gratefulness for in the here or now. Whenever you feel to find yourself wishing you had something that someone else has, remind yourself to notice what you have already.  

Track on your senses:

Studies suggest that focusing on what you see, hear, taste, touch and feel can be helpful to attain a greater appreciation of the world around you and what it means to be alive. One way to track your sense is to practice mindfulness meditation. This kind of meditation helps you to be aware and increase your concern about how you feel at the present time. 

Positive Socialism:

Surrounding yourself with positive thinking-minded people is another way to practice gratitude. Supportive and positive-minded people can make your life struggle much easier with their great helping attempts. Spend some time with those who make you feel happy and fulfilled and help yourself live in the moment right now instead of dealing with the past or future. 

 
Tips for Developing Gratitude

In order to develop positive thinking gratitude can make an important role. Various researchers have different ways to cultivate gratitude. Everyday practice with mindfulness a person could develop a gratitude attitude easily. Here are some examples:

• Be thankful and appreciative of the person who allowed you to go ahead of them whenever you are in a line. 
• Be thankful and appreciative to your friend who texted you to see how your life going and don't forget to text back with how grateful are you feeling for his concern. 
• Be at every moment if it's a matter of a cup of tea, feel the moment about how the tea tasted or how it is helpful to your tiredness. 
• Whenever you are feeling hazardous in life's reality, take a break and look up at the sky and be thankful for your healthy physical situation. 
• If you are going through a busy and difficult working time don't forget to take a break or a holiday.
• If you have got a promotion or a special treat for your work activities, don't forget to give a celebration to yourself. 
• If you are manifesting what you really want in your life and found it then be grateful for yourself.  
• If you have set up a goal and working hard to achieve it, and if you successfully completed your first step on your journey then be thankful for yourself or whoever accompanied you in this journey. 
• Take every day a walk and be mindful and grateful for each thing you see: trees, people, flowers, sky or birds. 
• You can take out your old photo album with friends or family and rememorize those moments can be a great attempt towards practising gratitude. 
• You can make a call or write a text message to someone to express your kindness and appreciation who did something for you. 
• You can schedule a visit to tell this person how much their favour or generous act is really meant to you. 
• If you find yourself feeling dull because a friend or a colleague does something better than you do, notice all the areas where you're better than them and be grateful for it. 
• When you are journalising be sure to write down at least three things that you are grateful for every day.  

There are various research positive psychology papers on old and recent days that come to the conclusion that gratitude is consistently acted with great happiness. They revealed that cultivating gratitude can help people to cope with anxiety and stress relief. This positive emotion practice can be beneficial to improve their health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships. Researchers also back up with the statement whenever you feel hearty about someone doing something for you that is a wonderful feeling. And the most important and good thing is you need not wait for these feelings to bring your life, there are some proven methods which have been discussed above to proactively create feelings and gratitude for yourself. Whatever crucial time you're going through in life or relationship, consider those strategies, keep practising and see hows your life is with gratitude.  

|So, take your time to be grateful or thankful to enhance many aspects of your life with happiness, joy and good memories to live for.