Gratitude shows up in so many ways that don’t even mention the word! Knowing smiles, a bygone pothole, an unexpected sunset on a cloudy day. This World Gratitude Day, we’re underlining why an attitude of gratitude matters so much:
Global (21 September 2023) — Gratitude shows up in so many ways that don’t even mention the word. For some, it’s a quiet ‘thank you’ when the pothole plaguing the streets for weeks gets fixed. For others, it’s the unspoken feeling of warmth when we see friends we’ve sorely missed. For others, it’s finally getting the job, the house or the kind of coffee that becomes the unsung hero of the morning. But most importantly, it is always around us and in our hearts, even when we don’t acknowledge it.
World Gratitude Day is everyone’s sign to do exactly that—acknowledge the gratitude. Today, and tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow. Here’s why it matters and why you’ll thank yourself (see what we did there?) for embracing an attitude of gratitude like it’s your favourite hobby:
Here are 4 Things to Keep Close This World Gratitude Day and Everyday
1. Identifying Things to Be Grateful For Helps Soothe Anxiety!
When the walls of anxiety start closing in and you feel like you’ve exchanged being a person for being a feeling, gratitude might just do the trick to bring you back to a reality that isn’t warped by your reactive state.
Take a step back and name even one thing that made you feel grateful recently, just one thing that made you happy you exist.
The house is clean. You made the house clean! As a matter of fact, you’ve never been tidier.
If nothing comes to mind, do something for yourself that you know you’ll be grateful for later.
Take yourself on a date. Buy a dinner you’d want someone else to buy you. Drink the wine. Look forward to all of it, unapologetically.
Suddenly, our brains become less overwhelmed, our eyes open a little more, the world widens and it has a lot of forgotten good.
2. Learning to Be Grateful for Our Problems Can Make Them Smaller
A trick notion, but one that is so helpful. Problems exist no matter the stage of life you’re in. But sometimes, being grateful for them can help give you a mindful reality check.
Maybe you’re upset about something in your career (you do something you really love).
Reframe the narrative: you get to be upset about something in a career you really love.
This can be applied to a lot of our problems, though of course not all. But, where it works, it really works.
3. Gratitude Can Be Found Wherever You Seek It
Anyone who believes that gratitude is subject to set conditions might need to have a conversation with themself.
You don’t need to have every duck in a row as a prerequisite to gratefulness. You also don’t need big reasons to be grateful. It can be found wherever you seek it, because you do have agency over what you value (which also happens to be one of the best weapons for combatting negative thought patterns).
4. Being Grateful for Others’ Fortunes Counts a Lot
When we really take in the joy of others’ successes, we become powerfully connected. In turn, we get to be part of the experience and might just find we are far happier on this side of the fence than on the outskirts.
Root for your friends’ victories. Sing the praises of everyday heroes you might know. Let the little moments speak loudly even if they aren’t yours, and you’ll find yourself grateful for a new, additional thing: How much joy is going on in the world around you, a world you’re a part of!
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