Earlier this week I had the great privilege of being a part of an inspiring conversation on the topic of gratitude. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard it discussed so thoroughly, nor so passionately.
It’s easy to wallow, to feel sorry for ourselves when things aren’t going our way. But is it just as easy to feel grateful for those things we do still have, even when life gives us lemons? Not typically… Unless we’re really practicing gratitude, regularly.
There’s the feeling of being grateful, which is a good place to start. The gratitude lists and journals have popularized reminding us to do this for some time now. But, there are additional ways that might be even more impactful – this concept of treating gratitude as an action.
This is a nice list of ways to express gratitude to others; everything from simply complimenting someone to fully listening to those who challenge you to keeping meetings short for those you work with. There is also a section on showing gratitude to yourself.
This is a separate article, that discusses the art of gratitude as an action with a little more depth.
Think of gratitude as an action. It’s a verb that works best when it is embodied, spoken aloud and when it connects you to someone else.
Dr. Samantha Boardman
I recently heard some people express gratitude for situations, experiences of theirs that had it been me – I would’ve been livid about. The conversation showed me that I’ve got some work to do on this topic. I think I’ll be giving some of the ideas linked above a try, myself!