Practice Gratitude like brushing your teeth

​This weekend marks the beginning of many celebrations – Winter Solstice, Christmas, New Years, Chinese New Year. They are all celebrations of get togethers and new beginnings. Which, is also a great time to be grateful.
 
Why should we be grateful? Or why shouldn’t we be grateful?
We have a choice. And whatever we focus on grows. So you can imagine, when we focus on what’s positive, we also have a more positive outlook in life. 

Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash

I have found keeping a gratitude journal to be very helpful. Depending on how much time you have, even listing three bullet points of what you are grateful for at the end of each day would do. It’s really that simple. (So not having enough time is not an excuse!)

I did a 21-day “challenge” when I first read about a gratitude journal because I wanted to validate the effects of it. I picked 21 days since a lot of books say that’s the duration of time it takes to create a habit. It was a fun little experiment I did on myself.
 
The first few days was just writing by routine. And gradually as the days built up, the effects were subtle. Subtle yet impactful to a point where after 21 days, I continued with the habit. The accumulated effects of practicing gratitude created prolonged internal moments of serenity. Also centeredness. And feeling more grounded. To validate those effects, I stopped journalling for a while to see if I would feel any different, and I really did. And so I picked it back up again. (yes I know I like experiments)

​It’s been more than half a year since I started noting down my 3 bullet points everyday.  I still continue this practice every day, both journaling and also taking mental notes throughout the day. I encourage you all to give the gratitude journal a try!

Today, the 3 things I am grateful for are:

• Quiet time for meditation at home
• Yoga practice  + milk tea as a treat afterwards
• Simple dinner at home with mom and dad

 
Yes, not everyday is like the end of the year where you have a lot to sum up, instead see the gratitude practice as like brushing your teeth. You might not enjoy brushing your teeth everyday, but you do it cause you know it’s good for you!
 
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday! There is no better time to start practicing gratitude when you’re surrounded by so much joy and love as everyone celebrates!

Photo by Milos Tonchevski on Unsplash