Expressing Gratitude Can Change Your Mindset
I learned about the practice of expressing gratitude when I was a senior in college. With so many unknowns ahead for my future, someone suggested that to center myself I could keep a gratitude journal to focus on the present moment versus worrying about all the unknowns post-graduation.
I remember walking to my university’s “quad” with my journal and pen in hand, sitting on the steps of one of the buildings, and taking time to really be in the moment. Looking out at the expanse of green grass, I was able to sit and think through all that I was grateful for as a young adult. I noticed a sense of calm and peace that came over me as I turned my thoughts towards gratitude versus worry.
That year, whenever I started to feel negative emotions of anxiety, worry, or stress about my future, I took out my journal and began to think about things I was grateful for.
Years later, I started gratitude journaling again when I experienced overwhelm as a new mom. Juggling the responsibilities of motherhood and my career was overwhelming. So, I spent the final 10 minutes at night in bed with my journal shifting my perspective to all the people, experiences, and things I was grateful for in my life. No matter how small, I wrote them down: a phone call with a family member, a walk with a friend, connecting with a colleague, a warm cup of coffee, time to snuggle one of my children, park time with my kids, quiet time with my husband, sunshine, my health-- the list goes on. I have started and stopped my gratitude journaling throughout the years, but it’s a practice that I come back to whenever I need to really focus on the present moment.
My Current Gratitude Practice
More recently, I started expressing gratitude again, but I do it first thing in the morning and I pair it with other research-based approaches to create a morning routine that starts my day off on a positive note. (You can read about my “10 Minute Power Practice” here; expressing gratitude is the last of three things I do before I get ready for my day.)
At the time that I started this new practice, I knew that I needed to try something that would contribute to positive changes in my psychology and improve my mental health. I was experiencing such overwhelm in my professional life, that I needed something to help shift my mindset as soon as I started my day. I quickly found that expressing gratitude in the morning sets a positive tone for the day, and I encourage you to try it too.
What Exactly Is Gratitude
Gratitude is defined as “a sense of happiness and thankfulness in response to a fortunate happenstance or tangible gift” (APA). It can be a strong feeling of appreciation to someone, something, or an experience and can be a state of being, a trait, or emotion (Chery, 2024). Just like I personally experienced from my own gratitude journaling, research shows that by creating habits of expressing gratitude can contribute to becoming a happier person.
Other positive effects of practicing gratitude include the following:
Lifts your mood
Shifts your thoughts away from negative emotions and uncomfortable sensations
Gives opportunities to focus on good things that you may have overlooked
Releases serotonin and dopamine (chemicals in the brain that are associated with happiness and pleasure)
Decreases stress hormones→ reduction in anxiety and an improvement in mood
Long-term, leads to lasting changes in your brain, priming you to be more grateful
Research also shows that practicing gratitude leads to:
Better sleep
Improved focus
Higher self-esteem
Increased patience
Improved relationships with specific people: partner, children, friends, and colleagues (Cherry, 2024; Reid, 2024)
How to Practice Expressing Gratitude In Your Life
With all of the positive benefits of expressing gratitude, I often wonder why we don’t do it more often. But there’s good news: you can start immediately! You can express gratitude in a number of ways that don’t take much time or energy. You just have to be mindful of the practice and follow through with it.
Here are some ideas:
Take time in the present moment and search for people, experiences, and things that you are grateful for
Stare in wonder at nature
Express gratitude for health
Pay attention to the smaller moments in life that bring you joy and/or peace
Catch yourself in stressful moments and think, ‘I am grateful for…’
Send a text or email to someone that’s made a difference in your life
Write down moments that you are grateful for by keeping a gratitude journal or placing notes in a gratitude jar
Establish sharing gratitude moments with your colleagues, friends, and family
Create individual and/or collective gratitude rituals that inspire a sense of overall gratitude for life. (Give my “10 Minute Power Practice” a try!)
Take a listen to The Rachel Hollis Podcast, episode 621 “6 Daily Practices That Help Me Raise My Vibration” for more ideas.
Recently, I spent the month of November sending texts to friends and family who made an impact on my life. I was brought to tears as I typed those texts because I was reminded about how grateful I was to have their support and friendship. To my surprise, their responses showed me that my gratitude texts gave them opportunities to think about what they were grateful for as well. It’s as if the gift of sending a gratitude text kept giving as the recipient was then prompted to think about what they were grateful for in their life. I encourage you to try it!
Gratitude As a State of Mind
In Brenee Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, she cites Robert Emmons explaining, “In effect, I think gratitude allows us to participate more in life. We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from life. Instead of adapting to goodness, we celebrate goodness. We spend so much time watching things– movies, computer screens, sports–but with gratitude we become greater participants in our lives as opposed to spectators” (p. 213).
Let’s become participants in our own lives. Let’s feel the goodness of people, places, and experiences. Let’s recognize when we experience moments we are grateful for so that we can truly feel the power of living our lives in the present moment.
By intentionally expressing gratitude, we can learn to feel more fully alive. Just start, and let me know how it goes.
Photo Credit Ben White
