Gratitude Practice

This time of year, you hear a lot about gratitude and practicing an attitude of gratitude.

I know this can be triggering for some folks, but having a gratitude practice can be very beneficial to one’s health and I want to share why that is. But first, let’s talk about what gratitude is not.

A gratitude practice is not about forcing yourself to be grateful for things you are not in fact grateful for.

It’s also not about pretending the hard things don’t exist, that’s toxic positivity.

A gratitude practice can be powerful as our brains naturally operate from a stance of confirmation bias or looking for evidence that confirms what we already believe. So if you believe you are failure, then your brain is paying attention to evidence that supports that belief and may not notice evidence to the contrary.

This confirmation bias is also more pronounced when you have a mental illness such as depression, anxiety or PTSD.

So when we engage in a gratitude practice we are purposely searching for the things in our lives for which we are grateful, not relying on our brains to automatically notice these things.

Most of us have things we can be grateful for, no matter how small. This might be for the sun shining, the taste of your morning coffee, the smile of a cashier, or the smell of rain.

Noticing these things makes it easier to notice others and is likely to result in a less bleak outlook on your life.