Tomorrow is Blue Monday—the gloomiest day of the year according to some. With spring still a long way away here in the northern hemisphere, and the excitement of the holidays a distant memory, it’s easy to see why this is a difficult time for many people. It felt fitting to make gratitude today’s Simple Living Sunday theme. Read on to learn what gratitude can do for you, and for tips on how you can establish a gratitude practice.

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.

Oprah Winfrey

Three simple pleasures and highlights of the week

Let me start by expressing gratitude for three simple pleasures and highlights of the past week.

• We had a couple of really bright sunny days this week. No matter how cold it is outside, it’s always good for the soul to see the sun at this time of year.
• Last Sunday’s Keeping Things In Focus post got a shout out from Judy at Delight In Your Garden this week. As a blogger, it’s always awesome when other bloggers recognize my work. Thanks Judy!
• It was a productive week at work. I was able to tick all of the priority items off my focus list for the week.

Overall, it was a good week so I’m ready to dive in to the focus for this week.

This week’s simple living theme: Gratitude

Gratitude is all about showing appreciation for what we have. In a world where we’re under constant pressure to do more, be more and have more, it’s easy to fixate on what we want rather than being grateful for what we already have.

Establishing a gratitude practice is all about turning that around and learning to appreciate the things we have and the simple pleasures in everyday life.

Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more.

Melody Beattie

The benefits of a gratitude practice

From decades of scientific research, we know gratitude has many benefits for our physical and mental health. Psychology Today reports gratitude has been shown to:

• Increase happiness over time
• Reduce pain
• Decrease insomnia
• Boost our immune system
• Foster healthier relationships
• Reduce stress
• Lead to greater academic and professional success

That’s quite a list but, if you need more, gratitude can also make you live longer!

A well-known study of hundreds of Catholic nuns analyzed sixty-year-old autobiographical journals written by the nuns when they were young. The analysis identified those who had a positive mindset rather than a negative one.

The findings of the nun study were fascinating. The nuns who displayed a positive mindset lived, on average, ten years longer. And, there’s more. The positive mindset group also avoided Alzheimer’s in their later years. So, not only did they live longer—they also experienced a higher quality of life than those with a negative mindset.

That’s pretty compelling evidence of the value of a gratitude practice. So, let’s make it happen!

---

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

---

---

Three things to do this week

While I tend to have a positive outlook on life, I’ve never been able to make a habit of gratitude journalling stick. One of my goals for 2022 is to make it a daily practice.

If you want to establish a regular gratitude practice, here are three things you can do this week to get started.

Be aware of your mindset

Gratitude starts with listening to our thoughts, and shifting our mindset to focus on the positive, rather than the negative.

Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.

Alphonse Karr

I love this quote because it’s a great example of turning a negative into a positive. It’s a hard thing to do sometimes, so start small. Set a timer and decide to focus only on good things during that time. Go for a walk outside and notice small things that make you smile. It could be something as simple as seeing a neighbour walking their dog, or hearing the birds sing, or seeing snow hanging off a tree branch.

Keep a record of your thoughts

Once you start noticing the small things, take the time to keep a record of things you’re grateful for. You can write them in a journal or notebook, download my free journalling worksheet, or write them on slips of paper and put them in a gratitude jar. You could also share them on social media by posting a daily picture on Instagram or Facebook. Just choose a method that works for you.

Some people like to end the day by recording things they’re grateful for. I prefer to write in the morning to set the mood for the day. It doesn’t really matter when you do it, just make time to do it. Then, if you’re having a down day, pull out your record and look at it for a little boost.

Show appreciation to others

Finally, gratitude is contagious so make a point of showing appreciation to others this week. You could write a personal thank you note, send an e-card to someone to tell them how much you value them, or send a thank you email to a co-worker for a job well done.

This week, I attended a talk by Jennifer Moss, author of The Burnout Epidemic. She suggested putting a weekly reminder in your calendar to express gratitude to your co-workers. Such a simple, yet powerful, idea! I’ve already added a recurring reminder in my calendar starting this week.

---

I’ve done quite well with my gratitude journalling in the first couple of weeks of the year. This week I’ll try to step up my game with three more simple changes.

Do you keep a gratitude journal? Tell me how you make a habit of thankfulness below.