Quote by Donald Meichenbaum

One strategy we’ve discussed for building resilience is developing an ‘attitude of gratitude.’

By putting into practice of noticing and reflecting on things for which you are grateful, this primes your mind to notice more things for which to be grateful.

This is because our minds tend to search the environment and our experiences for things that confirm our point of view. This is why depressed people tend to only notice the depressing, sad and defeated things in their world, themselves and their histories. It’s not that there aren’t happy, joyful or contented things occurring in their lives or worlds, it’s just that they don’t notice or don’t remember.

So put some structure in place to help build a practice of reflecting on what you are grateful for. Set an alarm in your phone to remind you, put it on the calendar, write yourself a note and post it somewhere to remind you.

It can be an especially nice thing to do first thing in the morning to start your day off well or last thing at night.

It may be difficult at first if this is a new practice to you. That is okay because it will get easier with time and practice.