The Attitude of Gratitude

Gratitude!! It’s all the rage! You can’t squeeze in a bit of fb voyeurism these days without someone instructing you to BE GRATEFUL! BE THANKFUL or APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE!!!!! Yet I do believe that the benefits of GENUINE gratitude really do live up to the hype and the simple act of giving thanks might be the most powerful weapon I have on my wellness quest.

As the wisdom of middle age approaches I know enough about myself to know I can sometimes be a glass half empty type of gal, and if I’m honest my default setting would probably veer towards the …(dare I say the dreaded N word). I have to work it!

 

There is a veritable cult of positivity sweeping the globe right now, the road to enlightenment has never been so crowded… or so profitable it seems – who knew inner peace had a going rate? The point is HOW do you get from that nasty negative frame of mind we all sometimes find ourselves in (when  the urge to raise fingers to the fb platitudes of positivity is just too overwhelming) to a state of calm acceptance and positive wellbeing?

Well obviously I don’t have the exact answer for that or I would be up there with Eckhart and Deepak hanging with Oprah, but what I do know is that an ATTITUDE OF GRATTITUDE can be a game changer.

It should not take some horror story about sick children or dying mothers to make us murmur hushed words of thanks. We can all be more grateful, you don’t need a gratitude journal or an app, you just need to develop a routine and make it a habit, if it’s when you first open your eyes, when you are in the shower or driving to work, whatever works for you. Start by finding just 5 things each day that you really are thankful for. If you are struggling to find your blessings, and we can all have days like that, it’s worth remembering you slept in a warm bed last night, you are probably not suffering from hunger and most of you will have woken up in the knowledge that you are loved.  So just for starters not homeless, not hungry, not lonely…not bad…

 

 

 

 

So forget about being pissed off because the Jones next door have just bought a boat, or Mavis at the gym has killer abs and not an ounce of cellulite. There will always be the thinner, smarter, richer, to compare yourself with, sometimes you will be ahead and sometimes you will be behind, if you’re lucky you get to learn that sooner rather than later.

 

Grateful people are healthier, happier and more sympathetic, it’s official, look  here for all the latest gratitude research ( if you like that sort of thing). I can tell you it works it doesn’t matter if you choose to thank God, Krishna, Allah, The Universe (The Would-Be Wellness Guru is strictly non-denominational) as long as you put it out there. So give it a try…what are you grateful for today?

Till next time beautiful people

Love and Light and all things good

The Would-Be Wellness Guru