Some psychologists further categorize three types of gratitude: gratitude as an “affective trait” (one's overall tendency to have a grateful disposi- tion), a mood (daily fluctuations in overall grati- tude), and an emotion (a more temporary feeling of gratitude that one may feel after receiving a gift or a favor from ...
If you take the time to write these things down on paper, you'll be amazed at what you come up with. I'd like for you to develop the habit of practicing the four A's (Appreciation, Approval, Admiration, and Attention).
By recognizing the way others treat you, I am linking gratitude to The Golden Rule: Treat Others the Way You Wish They Would Treat You. If we give to others, perhaps they will give to us in return. In this way, “we pay it forward.”
The two stages of gratitude comprise the recognition of the goodness in our lives and then how this goodness came to us. Through this process, we recognize the fortune of everything that improves our lives and ourselves.
True gratitude celebrates the giver as well as the feeling. As in, I'm thankful for my parents for preparing good food. I'm thankful for the service person that fixed our heater and warmed the house. I'm thankful for my grandmother for teaching me to bake a pie.
To be grateful takes discipline and it takes commitment. Most of us will need to retrain our brains to focus on only the positive. It requires time and being gentle with ourselves when we stray, so that we can come back to a place of gratitude without judgment of our negative behaviors.
One of the simplest ways to practice appreciation is to use your five senses. Hearing, Taste, Smell, Touch and Sight. The reason I like this process is it is simple, I can do it anywhere and any time. By the end, I feel my mood has lifted.
“The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.” “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” “There's no happier person than a truly thankful, content person.” “There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.”
Our genes and our brains aren't the end of the story; certain personality factors can also act as barriers to gratitude. In particular, envy, materialism, narcissism, and cynicism can be thought of as “thieves of thankfulness.”
Because some people tend to give more importance to negative thoughts and experiences — something called negativity bias — gratitude may not always flow naturally. Gratitude is a skill that you can develop with practice.
Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in the hopes it will make them happier or thinking they can't feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack.
