Why I’m Grateful for Gratitude and How it Changed my Life

Choosing positivity over negativity

Hi Guys,

I’m a firm believer in the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking, as you may know, if you happened to read my previous post “The Power of Positive Thinking”.

It all started when I decided to try out the theory of practicing gratitude daily. I read a few books about the power of positivity and the mind. I was intrigued how well it worked for me once I started to train my mind into thinking positively as much as possible. I would always look for the good side of a bad situation. The saying “always look on the bright side” comes to mind. The more I would consider myself lucky, it seemed the luckier I became! This may sound unbelievable to you and I even scoffed at the idea of this myself before I gave it a try. But I began to notice that the more positive I trained my mind to be, the more positive things began to occur in my life.

Anyone who is reading this and thinking to themselves that this is a load of old rubbish, I challenge you to at least give it a go for yourself over the next few days and see what I’m talking about. It is easy to think negatively at anything that displeases you, as that is the way we are conditioned. Complaining and moaning are a little release of frustration and annoyance over the things that are beyond our control. You often hear people giving out about this that and the other at the drop of a hat, as it is part of life. I do it myself all the time. Nowadays, I have turned my negativity around to a positive mind frame. If I complain about something out of pure habit, like the baby won’t nap in the afternoon or the weather is crap, I automatically back it up with a positive point. Like for instance, the baby won’t sleep in the afternoon, but at least she will sleep early tonight and I can get whatever I need done and relax. Or the weather is miserable but I have a tonne of things I need to do that involve staying in, so its a good excuse to conquer those tasks today. I always train my mind to look at the good points.

positive thinking slogans in frames

When things go horribly wrong, I remind myself of the good things in my life and how I just need to focus on how lucky I am as opposed to whatever crisis I may be having at the time. It is hard to do to begin with but once you train your mind to think this way, things start looking up. Instead of spiralling into a negative frame of mind, you immediately start to think positively which in turn, helps you move on and start making your plans to get on with your life. Negativity just breeds more negativity and so it is a downward spiral, however, positivity is the exact opposite.

Once I trained my mind to see positively all the time, my life improved for the better and to be honest, everything just started falling into place. It was like magic. Obviously it doesn’t happen overnight but with regular practice it becomes natural. For instance, I used to get really upset when things didn’t go my way, which is normal to an extent but I’m a very sensitive person and often took things personally. I would think way to much into a situation and blame myself, etc. It was all wreaking havoc on my self-esteem and the negative thought pattern just became worse for me. As I got older I began to realise that by quickly planning a way forward from whatever bad situation I was facing, I would cut out all that negativity and get to the better chapter in my life so much quicker. There is no point dwelling on things that are out of your control. Life has ups and downs and if it didn’t, we wouldn’t appreciate the good things that happen to us as much as we should. That is life and we need to embrace both positive and negative experience. The acceptance of that is the way forward. The saying “there is no point in crying over spilt milk” comes to mind. Seeing the future positively, even when it seems bleak, is absolutely the way forward.

embracing a beautiful sunrise

Gratitude is slightly different to the positivity mind frame. Once I had mastered the positive thinking and began noticing the benefits, I began assessing how I could make things even better. I had been practicing focusing on what I want in life and picturing myself having all the things I want. Its called the “Law of Attraction”. If you haven’t heard of it, it is where you convince your mind that you have already received whatever it is you desire, by picturing yourself already having it. It works to trick your mind into thinking you already possess whatever it is you currently desire, then wait for that thing to occur. The deal is, you can do anything you put your mind to. Never underestimate the power of your mind. If you truly desire something, then you CAN get it. You just need to believe. Not just believe you are going to get it, but train your mind to believe you already have it. In theory, it sounds ridiculous. In practice, it works. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. If you can convince yourself of something, you can have it. It takes serious amount of practice and won’t work on everything, but the things you really desire can be yours.

Mood boards are one way people can picture the things they want. I haven’t used one yet but I hear they are an excellent way to gain the thought power needed to get what it is you desire. If you are keen on a particular house/car/holiday, why not stick pictures of it in a collage and hang it somewhere you will see it every day? Such as the fridge door or the mantel piece in your room, wherever. By seeing it every day, you can picture yourself there, living the dream. Eventually, little by little you will be working your way towards that and getting closer to your goal. It will train your mind daily, so you will begin seeing results. The main thing is thinking yourself already in possession of that thing, whatever it may be.

When things go bad, we are automatically annoyed or upset which is absolutely fine. It is how you train your mind to deal with it. Again, this is where gratitude comes rolling in. Start thinking of the positive things in your life, such as your family, health, prospects, etc. and you will begin that positive thought train.

positive scrabble blocks

I sometimes look back on the times in my life that I was distraught and felt my life was over. Then I remember that those times were the real life changing moments that lead to better and indeed the best things in my life. Look back and remember that when you were so unhappy then, look what went on to happen on the positive side. Like if that hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have had the same experiences and perhaps met your significant other or went travelling. Whatever it may be, I’m sure we all have at least one or two of those memories. You think it is for the worst, but in fact it is just paving the way for better things. That is definitely a big one for me. Whenever something bad happens, I KNOW something better is on the way.

Obviously, there are times when this sadness cannot be just erased, like when grieving. It is not always applicable but it can help, when you choose it to.

Here is how I practice gratitude daily:

When I wake up, at some stage of my busy morning with my two baby girls, I thank God for blessing me with two gorgeous children.

Again, I am thankful for my loving partner and everything he does for our family.

I think of the things around me I am thankful for, like all the things that we need to survive as well as the luxuries we are glad to have.

I remind myself I am incredibly lucky to have things such as our house and all the things we need.

I remember that others are less fortunate, such as those in war torn countries and places of poverty and starvation and I’m thankful for my life.

I am grateful that I have travelled and continue to have that luxury, as it is something I have always wanted.

I am thankful that my family are healthy and happy as it is the most important thing of all. Your health is indeed your wealth.

I am glad that we all love each other. Even if we argue and don’t always be on the same page, we love each other and thats all that matters.

I thank God that we are all together and are never far apart for very long.

love, hope, happiness bracelet

Those are my main reasons for gratitude. I remind myself of them, regardless of how happy or sad I’m feeling every single day without fail. I have noticed that my life has gone from strength to strength since I began practicing gratitude. It is unbelievable how grateful and lucky I feel. Apart from just feeling this fantastic emotion that is gratitude, my life has improved immensely. Things just keep getting better! I’m so so glad that I began this simple practice in my life. That is why I am always telling people who are feeling low or unhappy in their life to give it a try.

I decided to do this blog post for that exact reason. I want to see more happiness and joy in others too. I am delighted to spread the word on the gratefulness of gratitude and how it can change your life for the better. I hope you can implement some of these things into your life and that is has the same effect for you as it has for me. Be grateful and you will prosper.

Now that I have mastered gratitude in some way, I think I am going to start giving more. I know that there is great satisfaction in helping others so I am going to try and do a minimum of one thing for someone every day, to make their day better. I believe you do get back what you give, so my good deed for today is giving people my knowledge of gratitude and hopefully make your day – or even your life, better.

So I hope you enjoyed reading this and are inspired to take a leap of faith into a more positive and grateful you. Do let me know if you have manifested your dreams soon and if you have any more pointers on how to achieve the Law of Attraction, do divulge! I would love to hear your feedback so don’t be shy and feel free to comment. I’m listening!

 

Lots of love and positivity!

Chat soon,

 

Ciara x

 

Psst! I highly recommend this book on learning the techniques for the Law of Attraction. Good luck!

 

 

 

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21 Comments

  1. Practising gratitude daily is so important. I have noticed a difference since starting my gratitude journal a few months ago. I am more aware of the little things in life that I am grateful for. Thanks for sharing an important topic

  2. I really need to start thinking this way at times..Sometimes we just let your emotions take over and explode when we should be grateful! Or maybe that’s just me but either way I loved reading this and I needed to hear it. Thank you for sharing!

    1. Hi Christin, it takes a while to master it but with baby steps you start noticing the changes quite early on. Give it a go and let me know how works for u. Good luck!

    1. Thanks Karla, thats very true, we need to appreciate our lives more and stop complaining as we are lucky. Try the positive affirmations of the things you love about your life and are thankful for every day and you are well on your way. Maybe write them down if needs be and read until you do it naturally. Let me know how it goes!

  3. I think being able to appreciate the good things that happen in our life is the secret to making more good things happen. It makes you more excited and energetic about life. Thanks for such a thorough and personal post 🙂

    1. Hi Fabiana, thanks for your comment. That is it, it means you are naturally removing the negativity by replacing those thoughts with positive ones daily. Once this becomes habit, you notice less negativity in your life! Good luck x

  4. Positive thinking has so much influence on your life!I find it hard to actively and deliberatly think about things I’m grateful for, but I try, Because negative thinking isn’t helping anyone 😉

    1. It certainly does! Try telling yourself its easy to be grateful and that it is the way to bring contentment into your life and then eventually you will believe it.

  5. I’m in the process of strengthening my positivity through exercise and random acts of kind Ed’s, it’s amazing what little things we can control to sway our mind towards positive thoughts 😊

    1. Hi Bridget, thats great, me too! I need to start exercising too, there will be no stopping me then haha

  6. I’ve been practicing gratitude for the past few months now and all I can say is that you’re so correct on that. I went from a negative person to a more positive and forgiving person. I can’t repeat and turn back the past but I am sure that that’s what makes me, me. Very nice post!

    1. Hi Ellen, that is great to hear. I love hearing peoples life changing stories! Well done you. 🙂

  7. This is a beautiful post! Thank you so much for writing on this topic. I am actually going to be doing a blog post on this soon since we are nearing November. I think this is something that we should practice every day and teach others as well… I am sure you are a great mother and are teaching your daughters to be grateful and thankful as well.

    1. Aww thanks for saying so. Glad you like the post and you are very sweet for writing to me :):)