Hello hello! 🙂
I’ve been wanting to write a soul food post about gratitude for a while, and now it feels especially appropriate as Thanksgiving is right around the corner!
Though we reserve one special holiday a year for giving thanks, gratitude is really a practice that can be integrated into our everyday routines to help us to maintain our inner peace and manifest what we want to draw into our lives.
Keeping things in perspective
Practicing gratitude and keeping it in mind on a regular basis really helps to understand what’s important and what “matters.” For me, keeping things in perspective is essential in my everyday life. Without keeping this bigger picture in mind, we can so easily get brought down into the worry and stress of everything.
What really matters to you? Is that problem at work worth destroying your mood/day? Or do you have lovely things to be grateful for everyday? Keeping things in perspective by weighing what we are grateful for versus the stressful situations we encounter is a great way to bring yourself back to a positive space.
Replacing worries with gratitude
As always, I can only speak from my own experience. Maybe this isn’t the case for everyone, but even as a positive person I think it’s generally much easier to give in to worries and negative thoughts than it is to remember what is great about life and staying positive and hopeful. Especially with small daily things, it’s easy to snowball yourself into a bad day.
Dissolving worries through gratitude never fails and is a really easy way to get back on track mentally.
So, to “reverse-snowball”, I train my mind to snap out of those worries and negative thoughts just as soon as they arrive. When I have a problem or get stressed out, I go immediately to what I’m thankful for in my mind— even if it is something small. “The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day.” “The invigorating workout I did this morning.” “This lovely cup of coffee.”
And then there are the bigger things that bring us happiness and perspective as well. “The people in my life who love and support me always.” “My health.”
Dissolving worries through gratitude never fails and is a really easy way to get back on track mentally.
Drawing in more good things!
The other amazing thing about gratitude is that it works with the law of attraction. When you truly feel grateful in your heart and you put that out in your energy, you will draw more things to be grateful for into your life.
And you can use affirmations to guide you in this as well. Make affirmations that begin with “Thank you for _____” and fill in what you wish to attract, even if it’s something you don’t already have.
Which brings me to…
30 day gratitude challenge!
My first challenge to my readers, woohoo! I regularly do this kind of “challenge” for myself, so I thought I’d ask all of you to practice this 30 day experiment with me!
For 30 days, starting from today, say at least three “Thank you for ____” gratitude affirmations per day. They don’t have to be the exact same statements every day, but try to make them about the same things you want to draw in. (i.e. drawing in more financial success, weight loss etc.) I always like to say affirmations first thing in the morning so I remember to say them every day.
The difficult part about this challenge is really believing in what you’re saying. Like with any affirmations, they work best when your heart and mind are supporting what you’re saying. Try to set aside doubts and worries and just imagine yourself as if you already have them.
After 30 days, on December 19th, I’m going to follow up here on this post and on my Twitter @imamandaflorian to see how you guys did! I really want to hear if you were able to use gratitude affirmations to change your lives, even just a little. 🙂 Please keep me posted. <3
Love,
Amanda <3
This is SO true and a much happier and healthier way to be in life! Every time I feel down I always try to remind myself of the things that I DO have, rather than focus on the things that I don’t have.
Very similar to my blogs. I focus on the wrong-doings of the world:
https://globalgrumbles.wordpress.com – Give me a visit, and perhaps a follow! 🙂
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Thank you! Your blog is great too! now following 😉
Awesome, cheers. Look forward to more from you!
Beautiful, Amanda! Thank you for doing what you to do spread kindness and love! Your light is shining so bright <3
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That’s so sweet, thank you so much! <3
Thinking about how thankful I am for my loved ones always helps me through tough times <3 good luck on your challenge! –Jess
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Beautiful! Thank you! <3
Thank you for sharing tips on how to feed my soul. Keep it up!
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Aw thank you for the read! 🙂
Merci beaucoup pour ta visite sur mon blog ❤️
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grâce à vous! 🙂
Thank you for having something positive in a sea of negativity. It is a reminder of how much healthier it is to think this way.
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thank you so much, that’s so sweet. I hope you enjoyed the read! 🙂
I love this! Thank you for spreading such wonderful positive energy! In my experience, I have found a gratitude journal extremely helpful. Every night before bed, regardless of the type of day I had I will write down three good things that I am thankful for. It has been life changing! Much love!
https://awayfarersgrace.wordpress.com/
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Thank you! 😊 Yes a journal is a great idea! I have a hard time keeping up with journals but I know they are a great tool 😊 Thanks for the read ❤️
Amazing! Love the words given in this! Keep up the fabulous work
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Thank you so much! 😊
Great post and super true! I think it’s funny how we think Thanksgiving is the one time we should put emphasis on gratitude, when in reality like you say we should ALWAYS count what we are thankful for! There is so much we miss out on by creating that snowball effect like you said.
Insightful post and I am thankful for you posting this! 🙂
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That’s so sweet, thank you! I’m so happy you enjoyed the read 🙂
Lovely post. What a wonderful reminder and so well written. I think I will join your challenge! Love it, and I am so thankful that I opened this and read it this morning!
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Thank you so much <3 I'm so happy to hear that you got something out of it! Let's do it 🙂
Lovely post. Thanks for the positivity. Cheers! 🙂
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Thank you for the support! ❤️
Love this post, an absolutely gorgeous piece of writing that was just a beautiful reminder that i needed this week x
I myself just started a small blog, it all very new to me!
i would love you if you could check it out and let me know what you think 🙂
https://wonderlifeworld.wordpress.com/
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Thank you lovely! I will definitely check out your blog:)
Thank for this post! I am typically a big-picture thinker, but the little stressors at work cause me to lapse into the spiral you wrote about all the time. I’m going to try keeping a journal on my nightstand and write my 3 messages of gratitude. It will be my visual reminder 😉
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thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear you got something out of my post 🙂 It’s all about being aware enough to catch yourself in a spiral, and changing it around! Please let me know how the journaling works for you <3
It’s better to be a warrior than a worrier.
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Totally 🙂