The Key to Happiness: Gratitude
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)May 13, 2009 by Sandra Bienkowski
Jill Daniel wants you to get your groove on—your gratitude groove. She is the founder of the 40-day Gratitude Groove program, designed to empower women to lead happier lives by learning how to tap into appreciation and thankfulness. Jill spoke to SUCCESS for Women about the benefits of gratitude:
Gratitude makes you happier.
When a person is grateful, they make the choice to see the positive in a situation. There aren’t many things we can control in our lives, but it’s completely within our power to control how we think about a situation. Choosing to be grateful is empowering, because if you can see that something good will come out of a scenario, even a challenging event, you have the motivation to keep putting your best effort there. Try it: Next time you’re faced with what appears like an impossible situation, ask yourself, What’s the best thing that could happen here? Can you tap into feeling gratitude for that possibility? When you’re proactive with gratitude, it boosts your faith in yourself and in life.
Work on self-discipline.
When you wake up in the morning and you really don’t feel like going to the gym, you always feel better after you do it, right? Finding what you’re grateful for in any given situation is the same thing. Self-discipline is a foundation of gratitude-consciousness. Just do it. Just be thankful.
Become more self-aware.
Carving out some daily solitude, time to ruminate—even if it’s only 10 minutes—can help us stay self-aware. There are so many outside forces and influences telling women who we should be. To hear that inner voice of authenticity, we have to sometimes shut off the outside world. Having self-knowledge about what is truly important to us is a big piece of being self-aware. I recommend taking time, every few months, to write down all your preferences for your life, as well as writing down all the things you’d like to let go of that no longer enrich you. This practice will get you in touch with your true desires, and once you know those answers, you can act on that knowledge.
Turn your grumpy mood around.
Jill teaches Gratitude Groove with psychotherapist Mary Kay Cocharo, and she wisely says that “bad behavior is a call for love.” That is so true, both for our own behavior and in other people. If you wake up in a foul mood, grumpy at the world, chances are you’re feeling last on your list and need some nurturing. Go out for your favorite breakfast, take an indulgent bath with pampering products, meditate, or call a best friend for a pep talk. A healthy dose of self-love will usually turn a bad morning around pretty quickly.
About Jill Daniel and Gratitude Groove
The Gratitude Groove program takes a 20-minute daily commitment for 40 days. Jill Daniel developed Gratitude Groove after a car accident that led to a newfound appreciation for life. Jill believes that gratitude heals us and our relationships. For more information, go to GratitudeGroove.com.
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being grateful can be empowering. every night before i go to sleep me and my partner talk about things that have happeneed in the day that we are grateful for.
sometimes during the day when negative things are happening i find it hard to think postiviely or find things ot be grateful for? how can i change this or work on this to see positive things in everything?
i sometimes try to get people around me to be grateful for the things around them otherwise i find there negatively can come across to me and get me down.
The word appreciation means to be thankful and express admiration, approval or GRATITUDE. Once we are grateful to life and everything- we become valuable ; both to yourself and others.
Being Grateful spells so much difference in my life. I have learned and enjoyed the beauty of life and others. I found joy in everything.
Be really grateful to your life. Allow that gratitude to carry over into your activities and to add favor to your interactions. Think of one thing to be grateful about in each activity you do, with each person you interact with, and in each task you do.
Find the gratitude in your life and you’ll find joy standing always in your life.